Out of Mind
by free elf 25
Summary: Let the man-hunt begin. Sequel to 'State of Mind'.
1. Beginnings

**WARNING (ish)-** Sequel to State of Mind. I personally like to think that a pre-read is necessary, unless you're _really_ good at inferring.

* * *

Him and Sam had tried so many things. They used as many SHIELD links still standing, even resorting to requesting information from HYDRA prisoners. Nothing. Instead he waited on the subway while Sam restocked their supplies, preparing himself for the truth of failure.

Bucky was gone. Nothing he did was ever going to bring him back.

The train screeched to a halt. Ignoring the stares and flashing of phones that followed him ('Did you see him?' 'It's Captain America!' 'Do you think he does autographs?'), he hurried out into the bustling centre of the Big Apple, rain drizzling down around him. Across the streets he could see at least three ex-agents still under the command of Director Fury, all ready in case someone attacked him. One of them was 'Agent 13', his ex-neighbour, but he ignored her just like all the other times.

They didn't appreciate being followed.

Sam was already waiting inside the motel room. Two single beds, one small bathroom, a TV with no working remote, and five bags full of supplies, his shield lying against them casually.

"Any leads?" He asked as soon as Sam registered him. The man shook his head.

"Sorry Steve, though I did get wind of another few HYDRA informatives. Their Washington command centre was blown-up a few hours after Pierce was shot, which was initially thought to be protecting files and stuff like that. However, Fury sent Tash and a few others on a scope out mission, and they found a lot of bodies. All HYDRA bodies. The few that were alive are in Fury's hands, and Tash said that one of them knew who blew it up. A girl with serious links in SHIELD. They're all hunting for her."

Steve nodded, new plans knocking all thoughts of sleep out of his head. Neither had slept for months. "Where do you think we could find her?"

Sam smiled, watching him stifle a yawn. "We don't. She finds us."

* * *

Whenever Steve did get to sleep, he was plagued by nightmares. Well, not nightmares to be exact- more memories. Bucky when he found him at HYDRA during the war. Bucky saying goodbye when he left for war. Bucky fighting beside him in the Howling Commandoes. Bucky falling with hand outstretched. Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky. All he wanted was his best friend back, that final piece of home he could preserve, no matter how insane it all was.

_The man out of time._

_Those_ were the nightmares. Red Skull cackling as he failed to beat him and was forced to watch his home city be bombed to dust below him. Dr Zola's skin peeling away, revealing the grotesque robot waiting underneath. A silver hand that never stopped punching him, repeating those three words over again. You're my mission. _You're my mission. **You're my mission**_**.**

That night he woke up panting, immediately checking that Sam was okay. He slept on peacefully in the opposite bed. The shirt he'd slept in was drenched with cold sweat, the bed marked with scratches and punches he'd thrown in the midst of darkness. Quietly he walked to the tiny bathroom, turning the shower on freezing and standing underneath it until his teeth chattered and his lips turned blue.

I'm with you to the end of line, they'd both said.

But what if this was the end of the line?

* * *

"So...what was her name again?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged, cradling his coffee between his fingers. The days had steadily been getting colder, despite October barely settling in. Steve held back a sigh of exasperation- they were both trying their best.

"How do we know it's her then?"

His partner thought about this carefully over a long gulp of his drink. Steve swirled his tea around the polysterene mug, knowing that the steam alone would burn his tongue raw.

"She'll tell us I guess. Anyway, stop being so pessimistic. She could actually be a good lead!"

"Or she could just be a sour-faced prisoner who blew the place up for laughs and knows nothing at all about Bucky."

Sam glared at him before returning to his coffee. Sighing, Steve looked around the bustling city. It had been a while since he'd been able to sit back and enjoy the scenery of a-

"Is it just me, or do those men really not look like SHIELD agents to you?" He whispered to Sam, who immediately looked around casually, pretending to point out the way to a good army shop he knew if they wanted different weapons. Only Steve was close enough to catch the moment when his eyes steeled over, not recognising any one of the 'agents' posted around them.

"Run for it?" He whispered back, noting that they were slowly moving forward.

"Go." Steve replied, grabbing two of their bags and his shield and pelting down the street free of 'agents'. Behind him he could hear Sam, the third bag slapping against his bullet-proof vest.

They ran to the nearest tube station, watching the doors close shut in the faces of their attacks. Quietly they sat and panted, waiting for the train to drop them somewhere remote enough to escape from the public eye.

"This should do. We're a good few miles outside the city, and it's the second last stop before the train turns around."

Steve nodded, keeping his SHIELD close nevertheless.

The streets were quiet when they emerged from the station, anybody walking around obviously avoiding eye contact with one another. Once again Steve felt the pang of longing for his home time, when everyone would look up and laugh with each other, the streets filled with colour and emotion.

"All clear. Any chance of another cof-"

Cutting off his sentence was Steve himself, spotting the attacker a second before he fired. A single bullet passed above their heads, the air sculpting it's path. Before they could make another run for it, they were surrounded, guns firing and shields smashing. By the time three of the five attackers were down, Steve had blood running down his cheek and Sam was fighting with a number of bullet grazes on his arms. One man took a well-aimed throw at Steve's hands with his machete-styled weapon, forcing him to let go of his shield. The second man saw the opening, aiming his gun-

And dropping it as a sword lodged itself into his chest. The final attacker stared in horror, setting off in a sprint just as his friend was collapsing. The stabber followed, moving too fast for Steve or Sam to catch a good look.

"You okay?" He groaned, pulling himself up to examine Sam's multiple scratches. The man shrugged them off, promising that they'll have all nearly healed by the time morning rolled around.

"Hey boys. I believe thanks are in order." A voice interrupted them from behind. Steve turned, looking their saviour up and down. She was in her young twenties, with long and messy brown hair and wide blue eyes. The black short sleeved t-shirt and black army pants she wore were ripped and baggy, the only things fitting her being the sword strapped to her back, the gun poking from one of her pockets, and the pair of steel-toed combat boots on her feet.

"Thanks. Who are you by the way?" He asked gruffly, helping Sam to his feet. The girl didn't seem like the type to stab him in the back once it was turned, especially not after she'd just risked her life saving his.

The smirk seemed to be a natural feature on her face, like no one had gotten close enough to weedle a proper smile on to those lips. "I'm Iris. Or, as you may prefer to know me, your lead."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_I have issues. I'm already on the 4th chapter of this story, and considered bunching them up before my icky that-totally-isn't-going-to-work sense started. Anyway, I hope you guys like this story just as much as State of Mind, though you will have to wait a while before Bucky shows up again ;) Reviews are welcome._


	2. Lead

**PREVIOUSLY AT HYDRA HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON**

_"Oh. Hi Sergeant Rowell! Or is it just Adam now?" The fury was evident in his face at her reply._

_"You're the reason our soldier fucked up. You're the reason we failed!"_

_Suddenly he was on her, hand wrapped around her wrists to stop her from escaping. He hit her face again and again, laughing manically as he paused. "Oh, and your sister? She's one hell of a fighter. Took a whole three bullets for me to catch her. Pretty one, too."_

_He carried on laughing until the gunshot echoed around the room. His grip slackened, eyes looking down to the red blossoming on his shirt._

_"It's genetic." She replied dryly, pushing his body to the floor. Blood spilled over his lips, but she refused to look, opting to shove some more ammo and grenades into the bag and disappear, just like he had._

_'Don't worry Bucky', she thought to herself, ignoring the tremor under her feet as the HYDRA lair exploded twenty feet underground, 'I'm coming to get you.'_

* * *

The first thing Iris did once escaping (and blowing up) HYDRA was go to the nearest gas station and 'buy' some food, 'borrowing' some money while she was at it.

The second thing she did was break down in said station's toilets, throwing up the bar of chocolate she'd just eaten.

So her and her family hadn't ended on good terms three years ago, what with the whole not accepted into SHIELD thing and the running away only to accidentally join HYDRA (not that they knew that part). Her sister was too deep inside her work at Operations to fight for anyone's side, but if she had, Iris knew she would have taken her parents. Always the hard-working one. Always the better child.

Annoying or not, Iris never wanted her dead. Who was she meant to plan pranks with at Christmas? Who was meant to answer her calls about boys and training and the newest books on the market? It was like every picture of Tilly in her head was fading away, leaving behind a bruise she knew would never heal.

Tears still streaming down her face, she ripped out the station's security cameras, gave the terrified teenager who was working the till some money in a twisted thank you, and stole his car. As the teenager would soon figure out, the money was meant for a cab to the nearest phone.

The car hurtled back into the city, just in time to see the smoke rising from the wreckage of the war. They were moving the rubble from the water, discarding the last remnants of the first (and last) attack on SHIELD. No one was fighting anymore.

Her feet marched her through the busy streets, hood protecting her face. It was the first time she was glad for the cold wind pushing against her back. With a constricted chest, she looked at the pile of black bags a little away from the restriction line. Standing alone next to a SHIELD agent and an open body bag stood a twenty-seven year old with brown hair and slumped shoulders. Blue eyes met grey. A subtle nod once the shock had faded.

Iris walked away, driving the car as fast as she could get away with, knowing that that was probably the last time she was ever going to see her brother.

* * *

She hadn't _meant_ to hack into SHIELD. Their system was failing, the papers had no answers, and she just couldn't resist. It's not like she delved into the Avenger's personal files, reading up on how the Hulk keeps his temper or what new project Tony Stark was embarking on. It was just...research.

"RED ALERT?"

She definitely hadn't meant to find out that there was a red alert for her, calling to all remaining agents. It turns out that Ben had kept his trap shut, and her name was only there because stupid Rowell had been found before the gunshot wound killed him (stupid HYDRA soldiers with their stupid invincibility).

Once eyes had been rolled and coffee forgotten, she was in a new car (a mini, making the cover of innocent college student much easier) and driving as far away as she could manage.

It had been nearly a month since Tilly's funeral.

* * *

When she'd found out about the whole 'red alert' thing, she'd been expecting SWAT teams and maps and lots of guns. She hadn't thought that people were looking for her _help_, instead of her...well, her head.

Somehow Natasha Romanoff had beaten the odds and found her inside the apartment she'd been living in for the past few days, waiting until the owners sobered up enough to kick her out. Iris had shut her eyes, waiting for the bullet or the cuffs or _anything_ except the devilish smirk and untraceable phone.

"If we need you, we'll text you. No strings attached. Don't like the mission or the people behind it? Just don't answer."

Five texts later and she still hadn't answered. Instead she placed small tracing chips in their bags when they thought they were safe, and began to note down the placing of all the SHIELD agents still around her.

* * *

"Falcon and Captain. Information on H and TWS."

That's all the seventh text said. The rest had been important, requiring information on future attacks or remaining soldiers, information she just didn't know. Nevertheless, this was the one she picked to answer.

After following them on to the train after the HYDRA attack (turns out they were right about the whole 'cut off one head, two more grow' thing, though they probably should have mentioned that bombs were included in the cutting) Iris waited for them to get off, grabbing a cup of coffee while they left the station. It was slightly hilarious that two highly qualified soldiers and agents of SHIELD didn't realise that someone had been stalking them all the way from New York.

Unfortunately, her coffee went to waste when she walked down the street her tracking device said they were on and discovered that her quick stop had been a full-out fight for the men. Dropping the cup irritably on the ground, she withdrew the sword Natasha had given her (a prototype which was extra thin and concealed inside its own handle) and plunged it into the back of the man just about to shoot Captain America.

_'Does that count as treason, shooting an American icon? Like shooting the flag or the president.'_

The final attacker began running just as she withdrew the sword, forcing her to chase after him. There was a chance he'd seen her face, and if word got out that she was with the Cap and his friend...

He was halfway down the empty street when she caught up with him. Her sword found it's way through his neck, and she gently pulled the body into the nearby alley to be cleaned up later. HYDRA always sent clean-up crews.

Wiping the blood from her sword, she approached the two men, who were muttering to each other.

"Hey boys." She said when they didn't notice her. "I believe thanks are in orders."

Steve looked her up and down, almost assessing her, making her want to shout 'well, they sorta are. I TOTALLY JUST SAVED YOUR ASSES!'

"Thanks. Who are you by the way?" He turned his back, helping his friend up from the floor. _Falcon._ She rose an eyebrow at his obvious trust, wondering how someone with so many attempts on his life could trust someone who'd just stabbed two people she didn't know. Nevertheless, his question made her smile.

"I'm Iris. Or as you may prefer to know me, your lead."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_A whole chapter of Iris for you guys ;) Thanks to all the favs/follows/reviews- seeing a mix of new and old names, which makes me seriously happy. Also, anyone in England see the episode of Agents of SHIELD on Friday? I don't know how far ahead you guys in America are but HOLY CRACKERS! Such a mean cliff-hanger. Hope you liked, and will be updating as much as possible today and tomorrow because school begins after that and I don't know how much spare time I'll have. Please review! :)_


	3. Answers

"Tell us about yourself."

_'I'm a soldier under the command of HYDRA. I've killed approximately 35 people purposefully. I have brown hair and brown eyes_.'

"I'm Iris. No loyalties as of right now, not since SHIELD didn't accept me and HYDRA tortured me. I killed quite a few of them in the explosion of the headquarters. I have a brother called Ben, and a late sister called Tilly. _You_ are Steve Rogers, born in Brooklyn, enlisted five times for the army, got injected with-"

"How do you know that?"

She looked at him. Steve and his partner Sam were sitting on one of the motel beds, both staring at her warily.

"SHIELD really needs an improvement on it's security. That, and Bucky told me."

A mixture of anger and relief flashed across Steve's face. Him and Bucky were so alike, like two reflections of a fragmented man. One free in the light, and one stored in the dark.

"What do you know about Bucky?" He hissed. She could see the scar from the bullet moving underneath his t-shirt (like she said, _research_)

"I know everything about Bucky. After all, I was his psychologist. Three years ago Bucky got out for a few hours." _Promise me you'll stay safe, right?_

Steve looked at her with curiosity, like he could hear the inner monologue running through her head. Obviously that was a lie because now Sergeant Rowell was running through her head with a hammer and if he was seeing that then he wouldn't look so bloody calm. Iris breathed in, ridding the memory from her thoughts- there was time for it later.

"Tell me everything you can remember." He commanded gently. Even though he really didn't look it, the pensioner was a total Hufflepuff. A Hufflepuff with serious muscles.

"I can do better than that." She grinned, feeling the sense of power she hadn't gotten since she'd shot Rowell back in HYDRA. "I can show you."

* * *

"How did they not realise you'd taken the folder?" Steve was flicking through the file, gazing in awe at the information not included in the copy Natasha had apparently gotten for him. In there was all that had happened inside Washington, including the notes she'd made during the past three years.

"They told me to burn it, so I took some blank paper and burnt the cover with them. Since then I've moved it around with me, along with my collection of papers."

A normal girl might have blushed when Steve began flicking throught the cut-outs, staring at pictures of him especially long. Unfortunately Iris was not a normal girl, and could say that the cut-outs were 100% research and 0% stalking. Sort of.

"Clever. Remind me why you didn't get into SHIELD?" Sam interjected from the bed. It was obvious the guy didn't trust her, despite being the one who'd originally sent for her.

"Missed the IQ for my age group, so Computer Science was out, and I'm too small and naturally weak for Operations- as in they wouldn't be able to unload a bazooka on me." was the correct answer. Instead she cocked an eyebrow and replied "Sexism. Don't pretend that it's not real."

Sam glared at her for a few seconds, only breaking his gaze when the pair turned to look at Steve, who was chuckling under his breath. Realising they were looking, he ducked his head and muttered a clumsy apology.

"SHIELD isn't sexist."

"Natasha Romanoff and Maria Hill. Hmm...nope, those are the only female agents I've heard of that made it to the top."

"Agent May, one of the most highly regarded agents of our time. Simmons, half of the mind-blowingly awesome duo you'll never hear the end of if you join Computer Science. Agent 13, Agent-"

"And how skin-tight are their outfits?"

There was a pause as Sam thought.

"It's not that bad. We have to wear skin-tight stuff too- it's more aerodynamic!"

Steve stifled another laugh from behind his hand.

"I'm sure Fury would agree with that statement 100%."

Sam went to glare at her again, only to catch on to her and Steve's smirkish grins. With a roll of his eyes, he was soon joining in on their smiles.

"So...where do we begin?" Steve interrupted. Iris' mood dropped, the prosperity of pairing up with these two finally dawning on her.

"Where have you been already?"

Sam and Steve exchanged a look, both of them shrugging. "Mostly looking for intel. Steve checked out his old home and some of the spots back in Brooklyn from when they were younger, but there was no sign of him. What's your verdict?"

Iris bit her lip nervously, stealing the papers with her work on HYDRA's experiments back from Steve. She'd been developing on the original hypothesis that the longer Bucky survived without an electrical treatment, the more his memories came back, and as the years past, the more that time distance between therapy and memories shortened. However, working with the story Steve had fed her about him still being so set on his mission that he nearly let him die proved one of her own, more worrying hypothesis'.

"The last time his memory came back, when he was with me, it was because of daily memory excercises we'd been doing. They increased the rate at which the memories came back, developing from just your name," she gestured at Steve, "To the key points in his life history within hours."

"That's great!" Steve exclaimed. "so his memories are already back?"

"Not exactly. That was with lots of memory work constantly pushing at the barriers built to hold his memories back. Without them, the memories will just trickle through, mixing with the one's he's built as the Winter Soldier."

Sam looked grave, turning away from Steve as he looked around in confusion. "I don't get it. It's been two months. Is that not enough time?"

The bile was rerising in her throat, a constant bitterness that refused to leave her. "Some memories will be back. We don't know which ones or how he will have reacted. The chances are that..." Her voice trailed off, the word sounding like an unneccasary insult in her mind.

"Chances are what? Come on Iris, just tell me! I think I can handle it!"

Breath in. Breath out. You could be wrong Iris- wouldn't be the first time.

"Chances are that he's slightly insane right now. A complete danger to himself and surrounding people. We need to find and help get his memories back, because I don't want to know what happens when a super assassin goes full cray-cray on America."

Steve stared at her unblinkingly. Cautiously she waved her hand in the air in front of his face, looking at Sam for help. He walked over and removed the gun from beside Steve's leg.

_Comforting,'_ her mind hissed at him.

"Okay." Steve nodded, eyes still gazed. "Nope. Can't handle it."

And that is how Iris ended up patting Captain America's back while he vomited into a motel toilet, his 'partner' laughing all the while in the background.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Little bit of feminism there. No harm intended ;) I'm now writing Chapter 8 or something (so I can hopefully keep up regular updates while getting back to my normal routine) but added this one anyway- it seemed like a good decision. Hope you're all having a good day :) Leave a review please!_

_**Next Chapter -** Roadtrip_

_"My stabbing's on the news."_


	4. Roadtrip

The car moved steadily along the empty road, much to Iris' dismay. While she (and Sam by the looks of it) would be pushing the engine to it's limits right now, Steve was happy sticking to a few below the limit, singing along to the radio while he was at it. She was pretty sure this and the vomit fiasco last night all classed as group bonding, and she was now welcomed into their little team.

"Baby, I've been, I've been praying hard. Said no more counting dollars-"

"Oh God, haven't you already sang this one?" Sam moaned from the passenger seat. Iris resisted a grin, sticking to her 'deep in sleep' position on the back seat.

"It's a good song! Unlike those ones with the rapping and the beats. Why call it music when there's no actual music in it?"

That time she couldn't resist. "Sorry grandpa, but time's have changed since you were young. The current generation has moved on from waltz and lyrics-"

"Shut up. Just because I'm 95 does _not_ mean I'm old."

Sam and Iris shared a look, both erupting into laughter just as Steve began singing along to the ending of the song.

"Make that money, watch it burn-"

"Sink in the river, the lessons I've learnt!" Sam joined in.

"Make that money, watch it burn, sink in the river, THE LESSONS I'VE LEARNT! Come on Iris, don't be a party pooper!"

She stretched her legs across the back seat, ignoring Steve's glare while waiting for the final repetition to come on.

"Make that money-"

"Watch it-"

"BURN!"

"Sink in the river, the lessons-"

"I've learnt! DRAMATIC END POSITION!"

Iris pretended to faint across the back seat, laughing as Sam went for jazz hands and Steve pulled an air grab with his left hand. It almost seemed like a normal roadtrip if you didn't take into account the fact that they were running from a secret terrorist organisation while searching for a possibly deranged ex-assassin with a serious case of amnesia.

Like he was hearing her thoughts, Steve turned off the radio and deflated in his chair.

"So...does anyone actually have any plans on where we're going, or are we just going to keep on driving until we reach the sea?"

"Actually, we're going to need to stop for gas soon." Iris pointed out, sitting up and leaning over the edge of Steve's chair.

"Good point. And you'd so better clean those boot stains off the back seat- we're borrowing."

Both she and Sam rolled their eyes at him, switching the radio back on before he could protest.

"Next turn on your right; we should be able to grab some food and check up on the news. One of us can hit the store while the others fill the truck."

"Diner?" Iris proposed, staring at the fast food restaurant they passed, barely half a block from the gas station.

"Order?" Steve replied, pulling up at the station and handing her a few twenty dollar notes for the supplies. She didn't bother asking him where he'd gotten the cash; it was clear that money was the one thing they _weren't_ borrowing.

She hummed, thinking about the full-on American diner. It had been years since she'd had a proper meal like that. "A strawberry milkshake, and the biggest burger there is. I'm expecting onion rings too."

Steve smiled at her through the mirror as she left, hurrying across the street to the small 24-hour store. At the till stood a bored looking 30-something year old, waiting as her confused looking costumer searched her bag for an apparently missing purse.

Dawdling along the aisles, she began choosing the essentials and the...not so essentials. Toothpaste, cheap multi-packs, deodorant, face wipes, tinned food and bottled water- all essentials. Chocolate bars, some black eyeliner (she hadn't worn any make-up for three years, so it seemed like a good time to start again) a mix CD...or three, and a bumper sticker saying 'WARNING- OLD TIMER ON BOARD'- all the not-so essentials.

Just as she was paying (and adding a few packs of gum and a neck pillow in the shape of a dog), her eyes caught the TV behind the cashier. On it was reported the double murder of two government officials on 241st street in New York, both having been stabbed to death. The police were on the lookout for a professional, and alerting that everyone stay vigilant.

_'I guess HYDRA decided to let someone else do the cleaning this time,'_ she growled inside of her head, barely thanking the cashier as she took the shopping and marched off to find the other two.

"Hey Iris! Your burger will be here in a few-"

"My stabbing's on the news."

"Shit."

She took a long slurp of her milkshake, not even pausing to give the Cap' an incredulous stare- who knew the guy could swear?

"Any leads heading our way?" Sam asked, opting for the more intellectual route.

"Nah, but it won't be long before HYDRA figures out a way to point them in our direction."

"Or they could just be trying to freak us out. Tell us that they know we got away and aren't giving up?"

Iris and Sam looked at Steve thoughtfully.

"Sometimes I really want to cut my way into your head and figure out how the hell you work." She noted aloud, accepting her burger from the flustered waitress.

"Thanks? What did you get from the store?" He flicked his straw in the direction of the bags, splattering coca-cola over the table. She glared at him, burger already wedged in her mouth. "I'll just look myself," he amended quickly.

"Really Iris? _Golden Oldies?_" He growled, pulling out the CD she'd bought. Sam giggled, reading out some of the songs and singing the ones he knew while Iris finished her burger.

"Jeez woman, you should enter competitions with a stomach like that." Sam joked.

"Too much hassle. Didn't I order onion rings? Did you not order my-"

"Time to go." Steve cut in, picking up the bags and pushing his baseball cap over his face. While Sam tensed, trying to see what had caused the Cap to get all touchy, Iris pretended to laugh at a joke while checking her sword was within reach.

"Don't be silly, Sammy." Sam turned, falling into pace with her whiny accent. "We have to get driving now unless we miss our slot. Isn't that right, Karl?"

Steve nodded gruffly, mouthing the name at her when their chaser turned away.

He was tall and broad, with scars across his face. The black uniform and comm set caused a lot of attraction from the locals, not that he seemed to care. Iris held her breath. A new order was recited into his ear, causing his eyes to flicker over them and direct him towards the gas station. All three released audible sighs of relief.

"Come on, _A__udrey_." Steve tried to joke, leading them back to the car with caution. "How do you think they found us?"

"New car." Iris decided, opting for the dusty four-by-four a few spaces away from their original car. Flicking her knife out to the lowest level, within two minutes it was unlocked and hotwired. "We'll have to change as much as we can- the trail will be way too obvious for them to follow no matter what we do."

With Steve in shotgun and Sam driving, Iris lounged across the back seats once more, her eyes flicking across the files she'd memorised by heart. The new pages Steve had given her didn't help with anything, but just added to her knowledge of the man who knew nothing about her.

_'Research my ass,'_ that inner voice chided. Dropping the files, she turned back to the map, a single black line telling her where they were driving.

"Turn right at the intersection. I've got an idea."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Not a single line break! Except for the one between this and the actual story, but you get the picture. Two things- Counting Stars is a song by OneRepublic, not me, and Golden Oldies is actually a CD. Quite a few CDs in truth. Thanks to all you lovely people reviewing (I swear I'm going to reply...eventually...) and fingers crossed that updates won't be harmed by the dreaded 'S'. *shivers*_

_**Next chapter-** _Airtrip_ (subtle hint)_

_"I really don't want to ask who you stole this car from."_


	5. Airtrip

"I'm not getting on a plane with you flying."

Iris sighed, tapping her foot while the two men fought over who would play the pilot. Sam was saying that since he had more experience at stuff like that ("Experience with what? Heights? Parachuting out before we crash and burn?") he should get to, while Steve was busy pointing out that he hadn't ever flown an actual aeroplane before.

"Details, details! Can we just get in the bloody plane?" She snapped, hoisting their bags and Steve's shield over her shoulders. "I'd prefer to be well out of range before HYDRA finds us."

A final sigh and 'if we crash...' and they were on their way, giving Iris just enough time to tuck a few notes into the original pilot's ropes as an apology.

"It's really nothing personal, we're just running from these terrorists that want to kill us, and since you're helping out Captain America you're actually doing some good for your country! No? Just going to keep on glaring at me? It's not like I didn't apologise for knocking your tooth out! It was a complete accident- I thought you were trying to kill me!"

The guy had just rolled his eyes, struggling against his bindings to probably try and get his hands around her throat. Steve was still unsure about leaving him, just as unsure as he'd been when she had ambushed him and stolen his plane.

_Miniature_ plane, just for the record. And one with a very handy instruction booklet and auto-pilot button.

"Why Germany?" Steve questioned once the plane was steady and in the air. After a few more minutes of fighting, they'd forced the pilot into the plane with them, making sure he helped them get to their destination in one piece. Iris looked up from the endless pages of notes she'd crafted, thinking the question over herself.

"You said that's where most of the Howling Commandoes missions took place, and since that was such a defining moment in his life, he might head there to-"

"The site of his torture." Steve finished with the sentence she was never going to say. "You think he'll remember the capture and the torture and the rescue, and try to see if it's real."

"Any evidence of his existence, he will find it. Unfortunately the site exploded," she sent a teasing glare at him to lighten the mood, "so there won't be any evidence. If there is, it'll be in really _really_ small pieces."

They fell back into comfortable silence, listening to the hum of the engine and distant noise of Sam singing. The men's optimism hadn't failed to surprise her in the three days she'd known them.

"Three days isn't as short of a time as you think." Steve answered to her wordless thoughts. "Me, Tash and Sam saved the world, destroyed SHIELD and almost got killed five times in three days."

She smiled, ignoring the obvious starter for small talk as her hands flickered to the drawing she'd constructed of the machine. When Bucky had his memories wiped after seeing Steve, she'd been forced to watch because, according to Pierce, it was her fault that they were returning so rapidly. Instead of curling into a ball and forgetting the whole thing like she wanted to, she drew as much of it as she could remember and tried to fit it in with the description given by the numerous doctor's notes.

"Where did you learn how to handle a weapon like that?" She looked up, confused. "Back in New York, when you stabbed those men. How'd you learn to fight like that?"

"You learn to pick a few things up." She smiled dryly. "How can you expect someone to spend three years surrounded by violence and not learn how to fight?"

Steve thought about it. She could see him breaking, this new world destroying the honest and lion-hearted man he was created for. "I guess I don't. Just never thought HYDRA would let their prisoners learn."

"I wasn't technically their prisoner. No chains or bars. I was just a member against my will, doing mostly file work on their new recruites. Checking their sanity."

He smiled faintly, thoughts turning him to stare out of the small window. She'd forced them to shut as many as they could, ignoring the lashes of paranoia clawing at her throat. _No one can see us from the sky, Iris._

"Do you think what we're doing is right? Hunting him down, forcing his memories back into him. Would it be better to just let him go?"

_'Not quite broken,'_ she thought, a smile just as faint as his shimmering on to her lips. "You say it like you _could_ let him go."

The rest of the airtrip passed in frozen silence and broken thoughts.

* * *

"I really don't want to ask who you stole this car from."

Sam and Steve looked at the small four-seat family car warily, frowning as she tugged away the cherry-shaped air freshener tied to the mirror.

"I really don't want to ask how you learnt to be such a ninja. Car-stealing, site hacking, general sneakism-"

"Got the picture Steve." Iris smiled, dumping their small collection of bags in the backseat. The plane had been left in the field Sam opted to land in (aka forcing them down into a bumpy trial which forced the air masks to appear and the PLEASE STAY INYOUR SEATS sign to go haywire), knowing that landing on an actual airfield would attract way too much attention, especially if they just left it there. The pilot had been left inside with a small concussion and a few bottles of cheap vodka Steve had grabbed to help him pass the time before the police got there.

"Still haven't got an answer though. And site hacking?" Sam smirked at her reluctance to answer. The boys were like brothers- a bond Iris was worried to see break once they found Bucky.

"Reason a- HYDRA. Simple as. Reason b- I tried out for SHIELD. If you don't have an air of general sneakism, you're lucky to even get a trial."

This time Iris called shotgun and sent Sam to the backseat, forcing his long legs to suffer the pain from Steve's unhelpful shield.

_"Could it not have been smaller? Maybe retractable, like my sword!"_

_"It stands for tradition and reliability, not fanciness."_

_"My sword isn't fancy. Did it look fancy when skewering those HYDRA agents? No? No, that's right. It didn't."_

After 45 minutes of driving, trusting Iris with the map, Steve sighed and pulled into a lonely gas station.

"Switch. And tell me where we're going so I can follow the map right." Steve ordered, glaring at Sam when he moved to steal the front seat. Iris' memories flashed back to when her, Ben and Tilly were younger, all shouting and pushing each other for shotgun, even resorting to stupid measures like 'black magic' or 'if you take my seat, I'm getting Mum!' Since their parents were both SHIELD agents with guns on them at all times, the final measure wasn't as stupid as most would think.

Reluctantly she sat behind the wheel, adjusting the seat so her tiny legs could actually reach the pedals. Sam snorted at this but she just ignored him.

"I got gas, beef jerky, some more water, and a few sandwiches. We can eat them tonight when we stop. Map?"

From behind them Sam immediately captured the bag of beef jerky, raising his eyebrow at Iris' wrinkled nose.

"Our destination is a few miles from that memorial there." She said, pointing it out to him. "If you need to draw a line, draw it in pencil, and super lightly. Even though this is going to be burnt, we can't take any chances anymore."

"Wake me when we get there." Sam groaned, ignoring them as Iris shuddered the car into gear and Steve began humming 'Love Story' under his breath.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Do I overuse italics? Sometimes it seems slightly manic rushing through it on here, searching for all the places I marked them to be. Also, if I made my first poll a question on your opinion of beef jerky, would you answer? Thanks to DarkHorseBlueSky for unintentionally helping me with Steve's and Iris' 'small talk' with one of your reviews (chapter 1? A comment about a machete?) as well as the beginning to the section after the line break (the word sneakism was all down to me though) Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed, and please leave a review! I replied to most of the today, and will try to keep that up! :)_

_**Next chapter-**_ Ghosts

_"You can't fracture me. I am indestructible."_

* * *

_**EDIT 24/4/2014-** Making it fit as Sam Wilson was a paratrooper, not a pilot (thanks to SmokeyStorm for pointing that out) Hope it works a bit better- was the best I could do without changing most of the chapter._


	6. Ghosts

They stopped the car at the village second closest to the prison, using the nearest as their next car finder. Steve was still annoyed that they weren't going to get around to returning the other vehicles, namely the plane, but Iris and Sam brushed it off as casualties of the business. It wasn't like they were stealing Ferraries or SUVs.

"I remember this place."

Iris stared at the skeleton of a building and wondered how. It was in a much better shape than she'd originally expected, but was still a bombsite. Plastic bags and crumpled cans lay scattered amongst soot covered rubble and shards of bombs.

"Over there was where the men were kept, and that was where Schmidt escaped in his stupid helicopter."

"What about Bucky? Where was Bucky kept?" she whispered, seeing no difference in the broken landscape. It wasn't like an echo of a beautiful structure; it had been a prison before it had been part of HYDRA, and if anything the explosion had done some improvements.

Steve looked across it, shutting his eyes to try and force the memory out of him. "Over there I think. It was a long corridor, and not too far away from where the bombs where kept, so...somewhere along there."

Her and Sam exchanged a look, neither knowing how to be sure.

"Split up?" She suggested. "If Steve takes from the large structure where the bombs wer held, Sam takes the area you think the men where kept, and I work from opposite you guys. Deal?"

The boys nodded, each of them dawdling in their separate directions. It looked so casual, but Iris could see the tensing of their shoulders and the way their hands kept tight hold of their weapons. Steve had even brought his shield with him, clutching to it like a lifeline.

"Rubble, rubble, rubble, condom- wow, so classy- rubble, bomb, rubble, glass..." She trailed off, noting the change in items. There was the outline of a room here, almost impossible to distinguish as the second floor had caved in on her end. Here was smashed glasses and torn fabric, all set out so perfectly...

"Steve?" She shouted down the remnants of a corridor. A blonde head appeared at the other end, soot already darkening his features. "Who's..." she double checked the name written on the glass shard, "Who's Doctor Zola?"

* * *

"Arnim Zola. Me and Tash found his...his brain in the place where me and Bucky trained."

"You found his brain?" Iris asked in disbelief. Steve frowned, eyes still concentrating on the piece of glass.

"Not really. He'd uploaded it on to tons of computer- it could talk and everything. Super freaky. But SHIELD, wait, HYDRA bombed it trying to get us. He's definitely dead now."

Iris paused, looking around at the rubble. "Was he a clever man?"

"Incredibly." Steve breathed. "He saved Bucky after the fall from the train, was recruited to work for SHIELD...evil, but clever. Why?"

He met her eyes, worry now clouding them. In the distance they could hear Sam gasping over some WW2 artefacts. "What sort of clever men don't have back-ups?"

* * *

"He said he wanted to die!"

"Shut up and help me Steve."

"_We're both men out of time!_ Why would he lie?"

"Because they're copies, not reflections! The Zola you found won't have the intelligence of this Zola and vice versa, if this Zola even exists. Now shut up and help me!"

Iris and Sam were moving the rubble around what they believed to be the experimentation room, both waiting for Steve to stop freaking out and help them with his super muscles.

"I think I've found something. There's a few of these around the place, leading to the basement, but if what you're suggesting is true..."

"Open it." Iris and Steve both said at the same time, their bodies frozen into position. Sam nodded, his eyes portraying his thoughts. _We're in too deep. We care too much. We'll drown if we don't get out now._

Warnings in the back of her head, Iris walked down the rusty staircase with Steve behind her, throat constricting at the thought of what was waiting in the darkness.

* * *

"This is what it looked like."

That was all Iris needed to hear to get her started on the computer. Leaving Steve to gape at his nightmare her fingers flew across the decade old keyboards, eyes eventually falling on the USB ports sitting on the desk.

A few more clicks and the screens were lightening. She'd hacked into the protocal Zola had made, forcing it to believe that a USB stick had been plugged in after all and it could switch on. Behind her Steve stepped forward.

"Remind me why SHIELD didn't accept you?"

She chuckled lightly. "My face is too pretty. Imagine the amount of paperwork you'd have to fill in if it got damaged."

Impatiently they both waited, looking around the room too much to be normal. Paranoia was setting its claws back in, but at least this time she wasn't alone.

"There's so much data." Steve breathed. Endless rows of computer storage stood like obedient soldiers around them, whining as their brain was finally put to work. Iris, however, was looking at the sheets of notes and blueprints shoved into the draws of the desk.

"I think this is the trial." Steve looked at her curiously as she noted her musings aloud. "He came here when he first heard of his illness, and created this one as a trial. We'll have to be careful- putting too much pressure on it might cause it to fracture."

"You can't fracture me. I am indestructible." A third voice wheezed out through the dusty speakers. They both turned, eyeing the pixelated picture on the screen warily.

"Zola." Iris nodded towards him.

"It's Dr Zola to you. And Mr America. So lovely to see you alive and well."

"It's Captain America to you." Steve replied. He looked calm on the surface, though Iris could see the nerves jumping in his neck. Her fingers kept slipping between the papers, attracting Zola's eye...lense.

"What do you think you're doing with those? It's rude to look through people's work without their permission!"

"What do you know about James Barnes?"

The face shut up, staring at Steve curiously. Iris drew her eyes away from the papers, looking over the rows of data. Which were controlling his responses? Which stored his memories, which is hopes and plans and final hours?

"I know nothing of a James Barnes." He replied as coolly as a computer can. The nerve in Steve's neck jumped a little bit more ferociously.

"What do you know about James-"

"I don't know a James-"

"What do you know abo-"

"I don't know anything abo-"

"You tortured him! You captured him and experimented on him and saved him and corrupted him! Tell me about James-"

"I don't know a James Bar-"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BUCKY? TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO BUCKY YOU STUPID FU-"

"What do you know about the Winter Soldier?" Iris broke in calmly. Steve was panting, his fists seconds away from punching through the screen, and since there was only one it would be the end to their conversation with Zola. The face tilted towards her, a look of admiration and curiosity taking place. _Talk about an emoticon upgrade._

"I know _everything_ about the Winter Soldier." He sneered. "He is my little experiment, and a good one too. HYDRA was very lucky for him, and very grateful too. The upgrades I had in place-"

"What up-" Iris held her hand in front of Steve's mouth, cutting him off while Zola continued uninterrupted.

"-would make them even more grateful, even more lucky. An instoppable assassin capable of saving the world. That's his mission. Has he finished it yet?"

Iris smiled faintly. "Not quite. I was wondering how you sorted out his memories- such a difficult procedure could only come from the greatest of minds, but how-"

"Easy." The face smiled smuggishly. Steve was relaxing beside her, looking like a lost puppy as Zola carried on his prideful ramble. "Electrotherapy was used mainly for healing the mind, so I just switched it up a bit so that it would break the mind. All I needed to do was pick up the pieces and place them exactly where I wanted them to be. Obviously the mind can heal itself too, so it needs to be broken regularly."

"What if it isn't? What if it's left to heal itself? How would it fix it?"

The face frowned, some data drives whirring extra loud as they searched for the information. After a long twenty seconds, he looked back at her sharply. "They would return. slowly and dangerously, but still returning. Being the clever man he was, he'd try and figure out which were real. Visit the places he knew. However, this could disrupt the effects of the procedure. It would be best to blast the wall away entirely."

Steve was looking throroughly puzzled, trying to figure out why they needed to know all this. Iris on the other hand carried on to her final question. "What about the time difference? How long from when the memories begin to return to when the wall is impossible to break down?"

Once again the room filled with the extra whirring of machines, Zola's face flickering dangerously. The lights above them flickered on and off, causing Steve to stumble back to the staircase. "Come on Iris- it isn't safe anymore. We should go."

The whirring stopped. One light stayed out. Zola's face frowned at her.

"Four months tops. Now would you mind telling me where you're going with my files?"

Iris sighed. They still had over a month until that time was up.

"Steve. Have you got a..." She trailed off, spotting the order that Zola had taped to the side of each of the data boxes. Marching down the aisles she reached the one's which held his scientific research and removed the disk from each one, ignoring the growing screams from computerised Zola.

"Come on Iris. Sam will be worried."

Nodding, she borrowed his shield and looked at the pixeled face dead in the eyes. The entire screen was shifting, trying to adjust to the lost of so much information. With one swift slam, the shield shattered the computer in half, causing all the rows of data files to blink out of power.

She and Steve walked up the rickety stairs in frozen silence.

* * *

"Zola had the ideas for an entire android." Iris pointed out as soon as they were safe out from the basement. The sun was just dipping below it's midday height, sending shadows spiraling around the yard. "He didn't want to stop with just the metal arm- his original experiments here," she gestured at the ground they stood on, "were for his idea of robots, all powered by the tesseract. But once that failed, he had nothing, until-"

"Until Bucky fell into his life with a missing arm and half a working brain." Steve finished off, glaring at the blueprints in disgust. Sam however was assessing Iris' expression.

"You think his ideas are good, don't you?"

Iris looked up in shock, trying to rub the look of awe on her face off. "No...well, they're totally insane, and incredibly inhumane. Despite that, Zola was a genius. These plans could work, as long as you had willing people to undergo the procedure-"

"Willing people like HYDRA?" Sam interrupted. She dropped her gaze, feeling the heat of shame climbing up her neck. "We have to destroy these files, Iris. If they get into the wrong hands-"

"They're not in the wrong hands, they're in my hands!"

"You know what, I don't really know the difference anymore. You're just a lead Iris! All you've done is drag us halfway around the world to get us confirmation on what you'd already told us! I want you out- you're just trouble."

Steve stared after his friend as he walked away, glancing back to stare horrified at Iris. She ducked her head, not wanting to look as he left too. All too soon the rhythm of footsteps faded to the whispers of wind between the broken walls and ghosts of screams below her feet.

Alone.

Indifferent.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_ARGH DON'T HATE ME! IT SHALL BE FIXED! Did you like my Zola? He's way too awesome to be left out :) Reviewers recieve smiley faces and air-fives ;)_

_**Next chapter-**_ Theories

_"You DARE put a curse on Sir Aleric the Great!"_


	7. Theories

They'd taken the car. Steve and his stupid kindness had taken the car and driven the attention miles away from her, giving her enough time to get on to a bus and travel as far as she could from the ghost prison.

Bucky hadn't been there, nor had there been any signs of him visiting. They'd been following a breadcrumb trial amongst a million breadcrumb trials; they'd followed the wrong one.

"Are you Samantha Collins? Brilliant. Your lab is the second from the bottom, left side."

The real Samantha Collins hadn't minded much when she exchanged her rented lab in the local science centre for a ticket to America. Iris' first plan was to get the hell out of Germany, maybe escape to England or China or Ethiopa- just somewhere else. Instead she caught Samantha arguing with her boyfriend while he broke up with her because their careers were 'moving at different paces', and offered her the chance to get away in return for the chance of her career.

"Hi! Are you my new neighbour? It's lovely to meet you, I'm-"

"Anteeksi. En puhu Englanti." She replied, trying the best Finnish accent she could. Those words she'd memorised in as many languages as she could- 'Sorry. I don't speak English.'

"Oh. Er...okay." The man smiled awkwardly, retreating back into his little lab. From here she could see the jungle of foliage that was scattered across the benches, bunched up beside a mixture of lab equipment and crushed leaves.

Her own lab smelt like disinfectant, and the tidy benches were still sticky with it's residue. In fact, the only upsides to the place was that the proper wall and door meant people couldn't see her work, and in addition to the 24 open hour deal, she could live here if she was careful enough. The large chair which could spin _and_ roll around the room that came with the room wasn't so bad either.

"I could get used to something like this." She smiled, leaning back in the chair, Chinese takeaway she'd hidden in her bag already half-eaten.

Three hours later and most people were leaving. Her neighbour was still rattling on his room, throwing some of the plants against the walls as his theories of herbology or something didn't work out properly. Iris didn't mind. She'd picked up a super cheap portable CD player from a charity shop and, paired with the CDs found in the bag she had with her, was now halfway through Deep Purple: Burn (50th Anniversary version)

On the table in front of her lay the scattered sheets of research. Bucky's file was at the top, with her own notes on the left and Zola's notes on the right. In the middle of all three was a bunch of A4 paper, her hand scribbling out new thoughts as the reading went on.

_It would be best to blast the wall away entirely._

That's what the memory games had done. With her pushing from one side and Bucky from the other, they'd managed to crack through the wall in his memories, letting him live, even if it was just for a while. Theories stood that either he'd stay that way if HYDRA hadn't caught him, or it was just a lucky time frame she'd been able to witness.

But now, with no games and no Bucky, it would be impossible to break it down like that. He would only help her if he understood what was going on, and to do that he'd have to trust a complete stranger. It was impossible.

But there were other options. The electrotherapy had been accompanied by a serum of some sort she'd read about in his file, though not in great detail. In the process of healing most things, there's always some sort of antidote or medicine used along the way. Just because she was dealing with the mind shouldn't make things too different...

Her hands began moving across a new sheet, pushing all the other jottings to the floor.

_It's just a memory game, Iris. You just have to get him to remember._

If only missions went that simply.

* * *

It took six days and a lot of 'borrowed' equipment to get the prototypes finished, and even then she was still missing one major factor.

A lab rat.

Unfortunately Germany doesn't have that many amnesiatic super soldiers on the go, so she was stuck with her neighbour, Aleric.

"Erm, Samantha, what are you doing in my la-"

One trip to the doctor's later and she had herself a rat.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" The man sitting on her lab bench asked through a thickened German accent, swinging his legs childishly.

"Anteeksi. En puhu Englanti." She shrugged, checking the prototype was fully charged.

"Oh. Wer sind Sie?"

She paused, hoping that her guess at his new language was correct. "Ei, en puhu saksaa joko."

The man deflated slightly, his head perking up as he saw her approaching. Then came curiousity, confusement, fear, terror, and finally mercy.

"Please! I know you can't understand me but I beg you, please spare my life!"

She rolled her eyes. The device looked more like a taser than a gun, so she didn't understand why he was freaking out so much. It wasn't like she was going to torture him in a thin-walled lab in the middle of a very populated town in _Germany._ She didn't even speak German!

Resisting the urge to whack him over the head again, she grabbed his neck and pulled it forward, pressing the device on the nape of his neck. Electrical shocks rang through his body, forcing him into unconsciousness while the serum worked it's way up to his mind. She lay him back delicately on to the table, making sure her escape route was in order- if this worked, he would remember everything, including the fact that she had hit him over the head a few times with a microscope.

"Urgh. I...urgh...wha...?" His head lifted up, looking around the room blearily. Half-closed eyes met hers, only to snap wide open. "Were you trying to fucking kill me? Mad women! Murderer! WITCH!" Aleric lept from the table, stumbling over his own feet while he was at it. She backed up against the door, fingers clutched around her trusty weapon.

"You DARE put a curse on Sir Aleric the Great, the most fantastic English foreigner to have ever graced these lands! The very fact you thought you would get away with it is enough of an insult, yet to- did you bruise my head?"

Having enough of his insane rambling, she lunged forward with her weapon and whacked his head to the ground. A final look at the scene and she was gone, leaving behind an unconscious Aleric and a bent microscope in her wake.

The escape route took her by motorbike (which she had actually paid for) out of the town, driving back to the prison to see if she could find anymore notes of Zola's. Unfortunately she wasn't expecting a blue Ford to pull up in front of her on a deserted lane, and not in her wildest dreams did she expect Steve and Sam to climb out of it.

"Iris! Jeez, what happened? You look like you're going to pass out!" Steve exclaimed, rushing over to help her from the bike. She didn't really see what he was talking about; okay, so she hadn't eaten anything but energy bars for the past four days, but the development on the serum was amazing, and Aleric...

"I think I just broke Aleric!" She grinned manically, seeing Steve look at her with a mix of worry, amusement, and bewilderment, right before she did exactly as he expected and passed out.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_I used google translate so sorry for any mistakes. Anteeksi, en puhu Englanti is Finnish for sorry, I don't speak English, and ei, en puhu saksaa joko is something along the lines of no, I don't speak German either. Wer sind Sie is German for who are you. These are all I thinks btw- I don't know basic French after doing it since first school so it's unlikely that I'm going to be fluent in both German and Finnish. Thanks for your lovely reviews, and keep on r+r-ing! :)_

_**Next chapter-**_ Tainted

_His mind was a maze._


	8. Tainted

Sam and Steve hadn't gotten very far after leaving Iris behind. All the way home to America they hadn't talked, until they were back in a motel room with two single beds, one small bathroom, a TV with no working remote, and two bags full of supplies, his shield lying against them casually, they exploded. Steve shouted at him for being stupid and losing the only person who could help them, who knew Bucky enough to get the right memories out of him, and in the end Sam admitted he overtired and overreacted and was willing to go back.

That took two days. The journey back to Germany took one day, including the time they took to get Natasha to check that she was still there. There was a plane ticket with her alias on it, but Natasha confirmed that someone other than Iris got on and off the plane, and that Iris was still in Germany.

That leaves three days of driving, investigating, beef jerky, and some more driving. No HYDRA soldiers had found them, their attention obviously kept on something else back in the States. It was only when Natasha had called them with the confirmed identity of the person Iris had given the ticket to and they tracked it down to a lab did they find her- half-way down a country lane they were coincidentally using as well and delirious like hell.

"Who the hell is Aleric?" Sam laughed, watching as Steve lay Iris down across the back seats.

"Haven't got a clue, but if he's as broken as she says he is..." He trailed off, seeing her eyes flutter open. "Hey Iris. Are you okay?"

She frowned. On the roof of the ceiling was some pink residue, like bubble gum had been stuck there and forced off, leaving behind little pieces no one could bother cleaning up. The thought made her feel hollow inside, until she registered the growling of her stomach and realised that it was just her hunger.

"Ask me that over an extra large cheeseburger and I'll answer."

* * *

Bucky.

Soldier.

Bucky.

Soldier.

Bucky. Soldier. Bucky. Soldier. Bucky. _Timmy._ Soldier. Bucky. Soldier. Soldier. Bucky.

Who the hell is Bucky?

Who the hell are you?

A metal fist shattered a lying mirror.

_Who the hell are you?_

* * *

"So you guys messed up and came crawling back?" Iris summed up from their broken and rambled tale of their past six days. Sam looked sheepish with a dash of guilt while Steve just looked guilty. "It's fine. Seriously. I'm expecting lots of grovelling, and endless presents of chocolate, and shotgun for eternity, but it's _fine._"

They grinned, all relaxing slightly in their chairs. It had taken a while to figure out their order, ending up with Iris having to point and gesture wildly at the waitress. She looked a little more than annoyed when she left.

"What happened in your week?" Steve asked, slurping some of his milkshake.

Iris grinned knowingly. "I started to figure out a way to get Bucky back." They looked at her, wide-eyed, waiting for her to explain. "It's this device, similiar to a taser except...not. You press it against the top of their necks, bottom of their hairline, and while the electric-shock knocks them out, it also directs to the brain, along with this serum I developed, meant to help break down the walls stopping his memories from returning. The serum injects itself into the bloodstream while the shock is being administratered, and is carried straight to the head, where it begins to work away at any unwanted...implants. Understand?"

The boys sat opposite her with furrowed brows and gaping mouths.

"Does it work?" Steve choked out. She shrugged.

"I knocked out this English-German guy who was in the lab next to me and used it on him, but it made him a little bit...crazy. I didn't stay long enough to see if the effect was temporary or permanent."

Steve and Sam exchanged a look. "Does that English-German guy go by the name of Aleric?"

She frowned, thinking back to what she'd told them. They were rushing out of the car and she was smiling at Steve, words bubbling off of her tongue like popping candy.

"Oh God. I did _not_ break him! I merely...cracked him. A tiny bit. A mere fracture!" They were laughing now, attracting the attention of the other groups in the room. A few clusters of teens, a flustered family, a couple enjoying an afternoon coffee.

"So...what do we do now?" Steve asked, finishing off the last of his chips. Iris thought back to research notes and Zola's whiney voice through the speakers and came up with nothing.

_What do we do indeed._

* * *

His mind was a maze. A collection of memories tainted by the black coils of vengeance. Men corrupted by the sickly sweet stench of prospect.

He turned right at an intersection and found a dead end. Another led him to a muddle of pictures, some of men with guns wearing army uniform, some of men with guns wearing suits and body-vests. Metal hands and bloodied snow and purple faces choking to death at his voice.

There was only one thing that was true. It was in that stupid museum, but even with the 'whereabouts of this site is unknown' scribbled on the bottom, he knew he would find it. No matter how much time and lives and memories it took.

Bloodied snow. Frozen tracks. Tainted fingers. Rusty armour encased around aging vehicles. Guns in rows, clutched in sweaty palms.

Who are you?

You're my friend!

_I_ would care.

A pale body lying bruised on a skinny bed. His hand brushing along the markings on her cheek, his body finding itself drawn to her heat.

A whimper.

"Shh. It's okay. No ones here. You can go back to sleep Iris. It's okay."

_Iris._

His mind was a maze. He'd taken too many wrong-turns and faced too many dead ends.

His mind was tainted. And he needed to fix it.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_;) Hope you like it. Reviews appreciated :)_

**_Next Chapter-_** Lost

_Someone was behind her._


	9. Lost

A few replies to the people I can't message back

**Alyssa-** Yeah, it's just a disguise, but it's spur of the moment and only used that one time. Sorry if the names got you confused!

**DarkHorseBlueSky- **I missed Bucky too :( He's too adorable to be left out for so long

**Guest-** Holy moly chicken casserole. It's destiny! ;) I've never actually heard of someone called Iris in reality- nice to know it is an actual name still :)

* * *

"Where should we go?" Steve whispered. They didn't need to be quiet; they were in the middle of nowhere, back on an empty country road which led to the bustling cities on the horizon.

"I think we should go to his deathsite." Iris stated. The boys looked at her with the same puzzlement they always looked at her with. "Everything says his memories will come back slowly, and he'll focus on something he knows is real."

"The cameras at the Captain America exhibition told us that he went there, but he wasn't so happy about it. That was the last we saw of him." Steve pointed out. Iris nodded.

"Exactly. Anything on there would have to be fact, so my guess is the deathsite, where he fell from the train. It's something he's likely to remember to, what with it being a defining part of his life and all."

Steve frowned. "I dunno. I'm still thinking his army training back in America. If there was no siting of him leaving the States then the chances are that he probably didn't."

They all waited, sucking in their cheeks and biting on their lips.

"We split up then. I take the train site, you two take the States. Steve can go back to Brooklyn while Sam checks out the training compounds, or vice versa. If there's any issues, we call each other. Set up a secure line."

Steve shook his head. "That's stupid. It was fine at the prison because that was metres apart, but this? We'll be hours apart! Plus, the weather in the States is getting worse by the minute- rain and snow and storms. If there's an issue we'll never get to you in time-"

"It's a risk. All of this has been a risk. But this time, we're prepared." She picked up her final three memory-tasers (she was still working on the name) and their collection of guns, shield, and sword, handing them out accordingly.

Steve and Sam agreed, albeit a little reluctantly. When they were heading off to catch the flight, Steve caught her shoulder. "Are you sure about this? What if you don't find the site?"

"I'll find it- I've got Zola's notes. They're practically a diary." She smiled, trying to stretch it to her eyes. Steve didn't smile back.

"Are you sure?" He repeated.

"I've been working on this for three years straight. Everything has been devoted to finding and saving Bucky. If I'm not sure about this right now, I don't think I'll ever be."

He still looked uncertain. Trying to unludge the own reluctant feeling in her stomach, she stuck on a grin and held out her hand.

"Ten bucks says I find him instead of you."

He grinned, slapping his hand against hers. "Deal."

She waited until their plane was out of sight to board her motorbike and drive down to where the train originally set off.

Alone.

Far from indifferent.

* * *

Steve had told her that Bucky has fallen into the ravine a little before the train entered a tunnel. All she had to do was follow the ravine, keep the tracks in sight, and ta-da! Here lies James Buchanan Barnes' beloved arm- it has been missed dearly.

For the past hour or so she'd been forced to walk, her bike not able to cope with the lack of paths and increase of trees and rocks. The tracks kept on winding in and out of view, making her heart leap into her throat whenever she thought she'd lost them.

What if he wasn't here and she got lost? What if he was and the memory-taser didn't work? What if they were too late and he was already dead or insane or worse?

Bordering on a panic attack, she looked up to see if there'd been any change to the train tracks. Her feet slid to a stop on the stones. _A tunnel._

Hesitantly, she turned around, looking at the landscape around her. No mangled arms lying around, though it would be well into it's skeleton state if it was actually here.

"Bucky?" She whispered. "Bucky!" A little louder. "James Buchanan Barnes!" A shout that echoed off the steep walls of the train tracks and reflected on the rippling water of the ravine.

Everything rushed to her head, forcing her to collapse on to the ground in a curled up ball of pent up cries and whimpers.

_Timmy. Timmy, please._

She didn't realise she was saying those three words over and over again like a mantra until a large crack forced her to stop. Goosebumps rose across her skin, hair raising along her spine. _Someone was behind her._

The memory-taser in one hand and the handle of her sword in the other, she rose, still not willing to turn around. She could hear them breathing.

_Slowly. Slowly._ On the last step of her half-circle her eyes shut involuntarily. _You have to look, Iris. It could be anyone standing there. You **have** to look._

"Bucky?"

A look of recognition flashed across his face before he was on top of her, cold grass seeping through her top.

"Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?" He shouted, trying to grab her other arm. She sobbed, preparing the weapon she held in her left hand, knowing there was no other option, and shoved it deep into the back of his neck. He froze, pain rattling through his body until he fell still.

A few moments of breathing. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.

A few attempts of switching the phone on and dialling the number she needed.

A few cheesy grins while she waited for it to be picked up, her hand gently stroking the tangles out of his long hair.

"Iris? What's wrong?"

"You owe me ten bucks, Cap." A sound of relief and pure ecstatic adrenaline from the other line. She barely heard him. _"I found him. I found Bucky."_

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Just going to take this note to thank everyone who's followed, favourite, reviewed, or just bothered reading this story (or stories). This is far from the end (I'm a sucker for these two- just can't resist another plot) but I still feel like I should mention it once in a while. :) You guys are the awesomest._

**_Next chapter- _**Found

_"Shouldn't he be checked for insanity first?"_


	10. Found

Finding Bucky didn't seem to be the main issue by the end of the day. It was waking Bucky that was the big problem.

They had let him sleep for a good five hours before finally getting impatient and shaking him by the shoulders. Zilch.

This was followed by blasting music next to his bed, getting Iris to scream as high and loud as she could in his ear, and throwing cold (ish) water over his head.

All they got was a few sleepy grumbles and a bruised nose for Iris (he thought she was a fly and tried to swat her away)

They'd taken refuge in one of Fury's old bases Tash had sent them the coordinates for, the whole interior very sleek and Fury-ish. There was even a coffee machine, though someone had used up the last of the actual coffee. Iris stood in the main office, overlooking the rest of the building, while waiting for Natasha to arrive from the States. Her and a few other agents were coming to help with the rehabilitation and debriefing of Bucky, all bad blood and bullet wounds forgotten between him and Fury at the prospect of a new toy.

That niggling claw of paranioa was back again, this time ripping it's way through her stomach. What if he didn't remember her? What if he didn't want to remember her? He had Steve now, there was no need for her. They'd all get on great, three soldiers against the world, though Sam would probably need a steroid boost to keep up.

A commotion began down below her. She stared in awe as Bucky and Steve appeared, talking animatedly. In her head she was rushing down the stairs and throwing herself into Bucky's arms, not letting him go, not even for a second.

In reality she stood still, the claw finally finding it's purchase.

* * *

"Steve?"

The blonde looked up, expecting to see Sam by the door. But the doorway was empty, and the voice too groggy and quiet and near to be anyone but-

"Bucky?"

A laugh erupted from his lips as he pulled the man up from the bed and into a hug, murmuring 'I thought you were gone' like a mantra.

"Not quite Steve. Now would you mind telling me what the hell happened to me? I look like a goth!" He exclaimed, pulling at the black body-suit only to continue staring at his silver arm. "Oh. Wait. Arm...suit...guns...yeah, I remember. Oh shit, I shot you!"

Steve carried on laughing, nodding wildly. He was real. _He wasn't gone._

"I shot you! Right here!" He stabbed Steve's stomach, barely a centimetre from the actual wound. "With an actual gun and everything! I COULD HAVE KILLED YOU!"

Despite his frantic tone, Bucky was wearing a gigantic grin identical to Steve's. "You almost did, you son of a...Jesus, Bucky!"

"Sorry. No son of Jesus here." He joked.

"C'mon Bucky, you've got to see the other two. We've all been looking for you-"

"How long did my hair get?" Bucky interrupted, tugging a strand of hair in front of his face while emerging into the main room. Sam spotted them from where he was on the comms with Natasha and her team.

"I know!" Steve almost shouted, his hands splaying dramatically from the pent up adrenaline.

"I need to get this cut. Is there a barber's around here or..."

"I dunno. I think you can pull it off. Iris liked it, anyway." Steve winked slyly. Bucky's face changed from confusion to shock in a single millisecond.

"What? Is she...she's here? Oh my God, what do I say? Last time I saw her I was a zombie soldier! Wait, no. Last time I saw her was in woods. Last time she saw me I was tackling her! Jeez, she's gonna hate me. I remember her! She was amazing. One of those girls who...what was it you used to say? I'm saving my dance for a lucky girl or something. Well guess what Stevie? She's her. She's the girl, I'm sure of it! And she's here. She's fucking here. What the fuck do I say?"

Steve and Sam watched him as he jumped randomly on the spot, emotion changing manically. "Calm down. She should be up in the control room, and I'd just let her do the talking." Steve suggested, sharing a grin with Sam as Bucky rushed up the stairs.

"Shouldn't he be checked for insanity first?" Natasha's voice rattled through on the mic Sam was holding. Steve wrinkled his nose.

"Nah. And anyway, the only one who can do those tests here is Iris, so..."

"Are you following? Why aren't you following? I want to hear this."

"Hear what?" Steve asked, taking the microphone while following Sam and Bucky up the stairs.

"I want to hear the guy who shot my in the stomach turn into a pile of goo over a silly crush. Perfect mixture of adoreableness and sadism on my behalf."

He rolled his eyes, reaching the room last. And almost dropping the mic in the process.

Sam and Bucky stood looking the 'perfect mixture' of worry and frustration. On the screen in front of them was an alert sent by Fury to all his safe houses, and by the wall two of the guns and her bag was gone.

"Shit."

* * *

She was going to go downstairs. The paranoia she could dismiss as long as she put on foot in front of the other, but that had all been stopped when the computer behind her sprung to life and began flashing.

All it took was one look of the man on the screen and his last whereabouts and she was gone, out the door with bag and guns in hand.

Bucky would just have to wait. Adam Rowell was calling her.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Quite a bit of swearing- hope you guys don't mind it. Also, massive apologies for the wait! It's been a totally hectic week- I've barely had time to sleep let alone update. Thanks for your patience :)_

_**Next chapter-** _Consequences

_"I knew you'd be here."_


	11. Consequences

"I knew you'd be here." She spoke to the back of the man she was so sure she'd killed. By the looks of it she hadn't been too far off- there were multiple bandages wrapped around his torso with gauze stuck to the burns across his head and shoulders, a tank of oxygen resting against his leg.

"It shouldn't have been too hard to work out. We have unfinished business to deal with, Williams."

She should have been scared. She should have been fucking petrified and half out of her mind, but her footsteps didn't falter as she walked up to him, waiting for him to turn. She had to bite back a recoil of disgust when he did.

One eye. That was all that had been left unscarred. The other was cloudy, surrounded by raw skin that folded over itself. Half his mouth had been molded into a permanent sneer, bringing back a saying her dad used to recite whenever she pulled grotesque faces at her siblings- 'if the wind was to change direction, you'd be stuck like that forever Ir.'

"When I was running from the building, my stomach figuring itself out all nicely, one of your stupid bombs decided to explode right beside me. I could do nothing but lie there burning, waiting for your precious soldiers to turn up and take me away. Once they helped my body figure itself out, I escaped, and waited here for you to turn up. This time it'll be you burning."

She thought about his sentence for a while. "What do you mean by help your body figure itself out? Did the thing HYDRA inject you with not last..." She trailed off, the truth hitting her. "It wasn't serum you were given, not like the Cap or the Soldier. Just simple little steroids, and now they're all out of your system." She stepped forward, her eyes having to tilt up from the perfect view of his chin. "You're just human now Rowell. All thanks to me."

One hand smashed against her right cheek, but her feet stood steady. She turned back, grinning as a stream of blood trickled from her lip and down into her mouth. "Nice to know you hit like a girl."

"You know your sister squealed, right?" He leered into her with a glint in his eyes that said _'two can play at this game.'_ "She begged me not to kill her, begged for anything but it. I'd already shot her knee- she was just scraps left the crows. But all that whiny and girly shit- she deserved nothing more than a bullet through her head."

Breathe. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three-

"Don't hold yourself back, Iris. I don't want to see such a feisty girl like you die the same death as your whiny, bitchy, whore of a sister."

Screw it.

She unlocked the sword she'd kept hidden under her palm and shoved it through the crotch of his trouser, missing his underwear by less than a centimetre.

"Watch what you say about my family, Rowell. I take all comments very personally." She hissed, carefully edging the sword upward until a small squeak resounded in his throat. "Why here, Rowell? Why drag me all the way out to this stupid house?" The dying sunlight played tricks on the shadows, causing the building behind her to elongate into a wirey shape across the shimmering water.

"Because here was where it happened. It was at this house that your father turned down an offer into HYDRA and let me accept mine. It was at this house that your entire future's were made."

* * *

_"Daddy? What's going on?" An eight-year-old questioned from behind her 13-year-old brother's legs, their other sister, aged 10, frowning at them from the top of the staircase. She'd been the only one of the three unwilling to ask, telling them that if they had just let her use their toy bear and truck they could all listen in without being caught. The other two weren't so willing to give their toys up for dissection and experimentation._

_"Dad. They're scaring Iris." The boy added, looking at the group of men with black clothes and guns strapped to their bodies. Their father glared at the men, motioning for them to cover their guns with their coats or at least put them down from their hands._

_"Everything's fine Iris. Come here; sit on Daddy's knee. You as well Ben, and Tilly if she's up there."_

_A pitter-patter of feet later and the two girl were sitting on their dad's knees, Ben leaning back on the chair from between his legs._

_"Lovely children you have. You don't want them to be hurt by the consequence of your decision, do you?"_

_"My children have nothing to do with this. I'm not accepting your offer, and that is final. I'm a loyal SHIELD agent, as you used to be Adam."_

_"Alas," Rowell smiled, "you can't say anything of the true reasons behind my disappearance. If you do, I'll take those pretty girls of yours and rip their dainty little nails off. One. By. One. Until next time, Williams."_

_"Daddy? He won't hurt us, will he? Daddy?" The youngest patted her dad's shoulder, trying to shake the answer from his tongue. He smiled weakly and ordered them off to bed. Once the lights were off, the youngest crawled into her sister's bed, shaking her awake._

_"Do you really think they meant it, what they said?" She pestered not too quietly. Her sister groaned and hit her in the stomach, forcing her off of the bed._

_"Go away sis. Dad knows what he's doing. Now shut up and go to sleep."_

* * *

"My Dad is a loyal man, while you're nothing but traitorous scum. You didn't even betray us for the winning side." Iris snarled, drawing the sword up and edging it into his stomach, at the point where she knew the six-part armour was weakest. One strong push and her sword would be in the bottom of his ripcage, possibly puncturing a lung if she angled it correctly.

"If we're losing, why is SHIELD still running? Why are we the side that still has all our followers and all our pride? How can you say you're winning when you're not even fighting?" He snarled back. "No wonder you didn't get accepted- your father was right. You're the weakest link in the Williams chain."

A flash of pain clashed with her thoughts, forcing her arm to jolt forwards, forcing him to splutter blood and try to collapse. Forcing her to kill him before he could cause any more pain to her and her family.

"I'm sorry Adam. I really am sorry. But...you have really good training. You know all the buttons to push." She sobbed, withdrawing the weapon and dropping it on to the ground.

* * *

_"Are you sure your audition went alright?" Her father asked one more time when the newly refreshened email account showed nothing. "They've usually replied by now..."_

_"It went fine Dad." Iris groaned from the sofa. "I did everything they asked of me, I finished with good times and I always came in the top ten."_

_"Top ten? Williams aim for the top five, or for nothing at-"_

_"Well, my apologies, but it's pretty hard to finish in the first five for the sprinting when everyone's legs are twice the length of yours. It went well." She repeated firmly, ignoring the fact that the shadows stayed on her father's face. From here she could hear him press the refresh button one more time, cursing lightly when it proved unfruitful._

_"Ah-ha! Got it!" He exclaimed after a few more minutes of silence. Iris didn't bother getting up; he was already reading it and she would get the message eventually._

_"What does it say?" She asked after a few moments. When all stayed silent, she sat up, gauging his reaction. All the colour was drained from his face, hand frozen in mid-stroke on the mouse. "Dad? Daddy, what does it say?"_

_She walked over, reading the email carefully. "Though her results were outstanding...height and stature is a worry...keep her on the list...will consider her in future events...always other options."_

_"I thought you said you did well." He said, his calm tone fractured by anger. She stepped back towards the door. Tears and fear and frustation were spilling from her eyes, hands scrabbling for the lock._

_"Williams always get into SHIELD. We are a SHIELD family, are we not?" The door was unlocking. His back was still turned."Answer me Iris."_

_"It did go well. They said I did outstanding-" She choked out._

_"Don't lie to me!" He shouted, standing up and turning to face her. She whimpered at the fury on his face. "Those were words of condolence, not of truth. YOU SAID THAT YOU DID WELL!"_

_"Maybe if you weren't so fucking pressurising I would have done better!" She shouted back, relief flooding through her that her voice didn't catch or fade._

_"You have no right to talk to me in that tone of voice, young lady!" He barked, stepping forward. She curled her hand around the object closest to her hand. "You are no SHIELD pupil, and therefore no Williams, and therefore no daughter of mine! GET OUT!" He lunged forwards, only for her to throw the saucepan at his gleaming head and sprint from the door._

_Short legs or not, she was still faster than him._

_Three days later and she was nearly ready to go home. Mum would have calmed him down and Ben would have heard, probably nearly ready to send out agents looking for her. Some of the higher level agents had soft spots for him, and not surprisingly either._

_A man walked down the alleyway and she turned to look him up and down, the smoke from her cigarette clouding her vision. Had Ben already sent them? Had they already found her?_

_"Come with us, and don't bother to scream." The man whispered, a gun pressing itself into her back._

_"Who are you?" She whispered back. SHIELD agents wouldn't act like this. SHIELD agents wouldn't hold guns against her like this, not without reason._

_"We're HYDRA. Your Daddy's decision has finally caught up with him, Iris."_

* * *

"I thought he'd last longer." A voice rang out from the pier behind her. She turned, staring at the three HYDRA agents surveying the scene. "Then again," He grinned maliciously, "When you cut off one head," the two other agents approached her, guns aready pocketed, "Two more grow in it's place."

* * *

"Her tracker says that she should be at the end of the pier. Just go around the right of the house and you'll see it."

"Thanks Tash." Steve said emotionlessly into his comm. Bucky was a few metres ahead, his gun held expertly to his side. That steely loom was back in his eyes- the eyes of a killer. "She'll be okay, Bucky. She's a tough cookie."

"Guys, hurry the fuck up. Something just happened. She was moving like she was being jumped on and now..."

"Now what?" Bucky snapped into the comm.

"Her tracker says she's in the lake. Move your asses down there."

The two of them sprinted the rest of the way, guns bruising their sides. One man remained on the pier, lighting a match to set fire to Adam Rowell's body. Bucky aimed his gun and shot him through the shoulder.

"You deal with him. I'm going in after Iris." Bucky ordered, dropping his gun before sprinting the rest of the way down the pier, jumping into the freezing water. Steve sighed, ordering the HYDRA agent to lift his arm up and telling him that if he had any cyanide pills he was planning on taking, it would be better for the both of them if he just let him shoot him in the head.

The water was dark, no sunlight visible from its position behind the house. He could probably hold his breath for the same abnormal time that Steve could, but Iris...he didn't even know what state she was in! They could have bound her or knocked her out or shot her and he wouldn't know until it was too late.

Surprisingly enough his skin stayed warm and dry, the uniform he had on obviously being waterproof as well as bullet proof. He was surprised it didn't stink after over two months of wearing the thing everyday- hygiene wasn't really the first thing on his alter-ego's mind.

His fingers scraped the bottom of the river. Ignoring the tingling in the bottom of his lungs, he drifted along, trying to find a small, pale body amonst the dark clusters.

His eyes zoned in on her, feet pushing him into action before he'd even had the chance to register what he was seeing. The tingling had spread from the bottom of his lungs to the sides and she was unconscious. Not dead, but not quite alive. Not for much longer.

It took six awful seconds to break the water, and another ten to get them back to shore. Steve was then helping him pull her out, making the journey to dry sand last only three seconds. His fingers fumbled her neck for a pulse and couldn't find it. Memories of a blonde-haired man plummeting into the water and then spewing it out from his lungs echoed through his mind. His hands clasped themselves together, pressing against her chest in the same pace as the beats that echoed in his ears.

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve._

He bent over, making sure his lungs were filled with as much air as they could hold before pressing his lips against hers, forcing it into her body.

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve._

He did it once more, feeling her chest rise as his lungs choked on the sudden change. Steve was pressing his head into his hands. Natasha was questioning them through the comms, saying words none of them would remember in a few hours.

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five._

"Bucky."

_Six. Seven._

"Bucky, she's not..."

_Eight. Nine. Ten._

"Bucky. I'm sorry."

_Eleven. Twelve._

His lips were barely an inch from hers when a choke ran through her body. He stopped, fingers resting on the bottom of her ribcage.

They waited. Not for even a second. Chokes were rushing through her body, forcing her to sit up and spew the water over her lap. Bucky snapped back up, one slow reaction from a concussion and two serious bruises.

"Who the fuck was kissing me?" She gasped, air refilling her lungs. Bucky laughed, wrapping his arms around her from the side. Her body didn't even stiffen, automatically relaxing into his hold.

"We've really got to stop dying on each other." He whispered into her ear. Steve had moved off, talking to the frustrated Natasha.

"Deal." She laughed back, falling back on to the sand and taking him with her. "Remind me that the Cap' still owes me ten bucks."

"Er...guys? We still have a bit of cleaning up to do. There's Rowell's body, and that guy I tied up from HYDRA. His shoulder is bleeding pretty badly, if he hasn't taken a bite of the pill already-"

"Do it yourself Action Man." Bucky called into the vague direction he suspected he was in. His eyes stayed focused on Iris' dainty features, her harsh and calculating grey eyes finally at peace as she drifted in and out of sleep. "We have some catching up to do."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_If there's any confusion with who Adam Rowell is, refer back to Chapter 2 (Lead) or the last chapter of Out of Mind (Ending). Reviewers are adored, and given a place in my mental shrine of awesomeness._

_Also, if there's any GoT fans out there, I've been watching the previous series to catch up to season 4, and have just watched Rains of Castamere (Red Wedding.) I knew it was coming, but HOLYFUCKINGWHATTHEHELLISWRONGWITHYOUROBBROBBROBBROBBWHATNOARGHBABYROBB! Watching the last episode of that series later this week so NO SPOILERS unless they're really good ;)_

_**Next chapter-** _Fury

_"Story time's over. Fury's arrived."_


	12. Fury

They were back at Fury's base, Natasha and her small team huddled up next to Sam and Steve, all of them cradling some form of beverage.

"How long do you think they'll be?" Natasha asked in the silence. Steve shrugged.

"I dunno. Bucky did say they had some catching up to do...I was just thinking it would be in more of a couple-y way than..."

He trailed off, all of them watching the silent performance as Bucky and Iris told each other about themselves, briefing Bucky on their mission while doing so. It hadn't taken long for Bucky to finish since Iris already knew most of the story, but while Iris recited some her childhood and her time at HYDRA, the clock ticked on and Bucky's temper strained. All so that the pair could feel comfortable in their relationship while HYDRA and SHIELD were watching their every move.

Though the team couldn't hear it, Iris was giving a watered-down version on what happened after Bucky had recovered his memories and subsequently lost them again, so all they saw was Bucky stop pacing and smash his metal fist through the wall, Iris carrying on in the expressionless state she started with.

"He tortured you!" Bucky shouted when he'd calmed down, surprising her as she was just getting to the part with the vomiting.

"And I killed him. Sweet revenge and karma's a bitch and all that jazz. So anyway, once Steve had finished puking his guts out-"

"He tortured you. Because of me."

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics. Endearing, yes. Cute in a _I-totally-want-to-snog-you-right-now_ way, yes. But for this situation? Nope. "Don't flatter yourself. It was my sassy mouth and my fault. Now, would you let me carry on? We grabbed a car and-"

"He tortured you!"

"I know! I was fucking there Bucky, get over it! It isn't like you haven't been tortured at all!" She screeched back, standing up from her chair. Natasha raised an eyebrow while Steve stiffened, checking that both of them had left all weapons in the control room.

"The reason I can't get over it is _because_ I've been tortured! You shouldn't have had to go through that, not when I could have saved-"

"You could have done nothing! They would have just kept on frying your brain until there was no chance of getting you back! _I'm okay_." She whispered the last two words, pulling him into a gentle hug. After a few slightly awkward moments from her end, he wrapped his arms around her and ducked his head.

"I know. I just...I wish I could have fought it better."

"You fought it as best as you could. You're here now, aren't you?" She drew back, forcing him to look at her in his confusement. "If you hadn't been fighting, we wouldn't have found you. Simple as."

"Er, guys?" Steve coughed awkwardly from the doorway. "Sorry to ruin your moment and stuff but-"

"Storytime's over. Fury's arrived." Natasha butted in, leaving just as fast as she appeared. Both Iris and Bucky smiled at each other tightly, their throats constricting as they thought about the man they'd either tried to kill (quite a few times) or the man who knew everything about them. The man who ruined their career with one stupid email.

* * *

"Why did you kill Adam Rowell?"

Iris sighed. Fury hadn't ever been a sit down and welcome them kinda guy, instead instructing the others to wait outside while he questioned her, not even giving a sheepish Bucky a glance over. "He was an escaped HYDRA agent who'd tortured me and killed a lot of people. If I didn't stab him when I found him, no one would have."

"That's because SHIELD agents prefer bullets to blades, Miss Williams. I think that's all I need- he was killed in self-defence, correct?" He raised the one visible eyebrow. She nodded and smiled slyly- it wasn't exactly a secret that SHIELD liked to twist the game to their own rules, but it was still fun to see it in action.

"Steve said that you found another copy of Zola's...brain."

She nodded uncertaintly, reaching to pull the files from her bag. "Yeah, we did. You should have the coordinates and I can give you the papers since I'm finished with them-"

"I would prefer to know what you did with the CDs."

He sat waiting with hand on gun, like he thought she was going to run from the building screaming 'YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE!'

"Of course. I didn't get a chance to look at them back in Germany because there was no place to play them without any money, but they should still be here...somewhere...there. All seven of them. Would you mind telling me why SHIELD is interested?"

Fury chuckled under his breath, pocketing the disks in his coat. "SHIELD isn't interested, Miss Williams. SHIELD doesn't even exist anymore."

"Then who is?"

His eye trained on her, scrutinising her carefully. She wondered if he ever thought about getting his other eye fixed, what with the advancement in robotics around, but refrained herself from asking. "_I'm_ interested Miss Williams. Isn't that enough?"

The two left the room a few seconds after each other, Iris waiting to watch him disappear with Natasha and Steve into one of the side rooms. Bucky came up behind her.

"Is everything okay? Do you think he's mad at me for shooting him?"

She stopped herself from biting back a grin, rolling her eyes at him dramatically. "Nah. Fury doesn't hold grudges- he's all rainbows and unicorns, that guy."

"Don't be sarcastic. It doesn't suit you." He retorted, his towering frame making her feel small and young and invincible.

"Yeah, just like that skin-tight suit totally doesn't suit you." That time he let out a bark of laughter, the sides of his eyes crinkling and the lines on his face disappearing. For a second they were both small and young and invincible, armed with nothing but a few machine guns, a sword, and a whole lot of determination.

Fury and the others appeared from the room, silencing everyone from the couple to Sam and one of the agents laughing over a cup of tea downstairs. His black coat seemed to swish dramatically even as he stood still. "Everyone get ready to leave. Wheel's up in ten."

His heavy boots clanked up to the control room, disguising the smash as someone dropped their tea. Iris turned to Steve. "What does he mean by 'wheels up in ten'? What are we meant to flying?"

Steve sighed, looking a little more than slightly frustrated. "SHIELD might not exist anymore, but Fury sure as hell does, and that's basically the same thing. What Fury wants, Fury gets, and in this case it's a plane."

"A Globemaster more specifically, though some like to refer to it as 'the bus'." Natasha added from behind his shoulder, giving them a sly wink before disappearing. Steve sighed and followed, holding up eight fingers to remind them how long they had to get out there.

The two stood awkwardly, knowing that it would only take them two minutes to pick up their bags and weapons.

"Cup of tea?" Bucky asked. Iris smiled and shrugged, dragging him downstairs to see if the place had any coffee.

* * *

"This is...spacious."

It was gigantic. There were multiple rooms and corridors and cars and cells and seats and even a mini bar. It was ridiculous.

"Yeah. Spacious." Iris replied dreamily, poking her head into the multiple 'bedrooms.' It was like the TARDIS- bigger on the inside.

"Don't touch, don't open, just don't do anything. Sit down and stay there. The other agents will join you shortly." Fury ordered, appearing in the doorway behind them. The two of them scuttled off to sit next to Steve and Sam, watching as Natasha casually opened a bottle of beer despite Fury's glares.

"Does anyone actually know why we're here? Fury doesn't seem that bothered by soldier over there, who, by the way, I thank for the apology-" Natasha scowled lightly at him, the rest of the room muffling laughs as he frowned in confusion- "and Iris gave him the discs, so why are we here?"

The question hummed in the air like an especially annoying fly. The big fat ones which always manage to escape the fly spray, darting above your head and dangerously close to your ear in a loud cacophany of noise, only to disappear from sight.

"I shot you too!" Bucky exclaimed, just as the door opened to reveal Fury and a few other agents. "Wow. Sorry about that."

Three slow claps resounded from behind them. "Congratulations _Bucky._ Though if you insist on apologising to everyone you've shot, you're going to be wasting a lot of precious time."

Everyone turned, examining the agents who followed the stony faced Fury. All of them were wearing heavy body armour, though most seemed to be more suited to lab coats and steady ground.

"These are a few of our remaining recruits. They were downstairs in the lab trying to hack into the disks you gave us." He nodded to Iris. "Unfortunately there was very little information left which made sense, as Zola must have put a safety-code on them to fry most of it away once removed from the machines. What we did get was a few dates, a number for a serum, and a couple of coordinates."

"Why do we need that?" Iris asked in the silence. Everyone else's throats were tightening, the realisation of what Fury was saying dawning on them. He was rebuilding SHIELD one brick at a time, and somehow they'd made it into the first layer.

"HYDRA, Miss Williams. They're after all of us, especially you, since you did free one of their most prized trinkets and stab the other. They're after you and your family, and I'm helping you switch things up so they're the mouse in this round."

It felt like no one else was listening in, the air stagnant albeit for their frosty words. The notion that she sounded like her father when on the phone to agents crossed her mind, and, even more disturbingly, it didn't seem to worry her. "Why are you so paranoid? HYDRA doesn't have helicarriers or planes or anything like this. Why do we have to keep on running?"

"Paranoia is the perfect asset for a SHIELD agent. It's the only thing that's gotten you this far alive, Miss Williams, and you know that."

No one talked, just listening to the vibrations of the engine and the clinking of Natasha finishing her beer.

"Who's going where?" One of the agents asked, their head ducked down. Iris tried to catch their eyes, familiarity ringing the bell of deja-vu in her mind.

"Steve and Sam. Bucky and Iris. Natasha and me. A few of you will accompany each pair, but they will be the leaders. That means that they go first. Walk first, jump first, shoot first. Understood? You'll get your coordinates when I know you're on stable ground."

Slowly people trickled from the room, Steve sending Bucky a smile before joining Sam down at the armoury. She took back what she had thought of their bond breaking; Bucky arriving had only made the links between everyone stronger.

"Hi. I'm Kaitlyn, and I'm one of the agents accompanying you!" The girl grinned at them. She was pretty, with heart-shaped face and lips and perfectly wavy brown hair. A blow of jealousy smacked against her gut as she thought of her blood-stained and ripped clothes, messy black hair left in a bun at the back of her head. "There's also Rickon and-"

"Ben?" Iris finished as the agent who'd spoken earlier raised his head. Blue eyes smiled graciously, sunken cheeks stretching with dimples.

"Hey Iris. Long time, no see."

Bucky looked at her in confusion, fists clenched. Rickon retracted his outstretched hand. Kaitlyn opened her lips into a perfect 'o' of shock, the smirk obvious in her eyes.

"I see these two are already acquainted. You must be Bucky; I've heard soo much about you. It's amazing to finally me-"

"Bucky. This is my brother, Ben. Ben...this is my boyfriend Bucky."

Bucky unclenched his fists, mouth dropping a little in shock. Rickon widened his eyes. Kaitlyn stepped back from Bucky, biting her cheek in annoyance.

"So...I guess we have some catching up to do."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Yes, I will be leaving these after every chapter. No, you're not obligated to read them (though it is appreciated) Just want to point out that there will be NO crossovers with Agents of SHIELD, so that means no Coulson, no Skye, no Fitz or Simmons, and no original Globemaster (the Bus). The one in this chapter is a COPY. Also, I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, I'd be spending way more of my time messing around with Daleks than updating this ;) Hope you like, and feel free to leave a review! :)_

_**Next chapter-** _Family

_"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."_


	13. Family

Once Iris had finished telling her story (again) the five members of their team sat awkwardly on the sofas in the Globemaster.

"I'm not angry at you." Ben started. She scoffed, only to have Bucky squeeze her hand in warning. "I'm not! It was just...very hard to process. You're family; we only wanted what was best for you! With SHIELD not accepting you and then you disappearing for a few years, it just made things a little...difficult."

"A little difficult? Did you even search for me when I ran off?" He tightened his mouth. "ARE YOU ACTUALLY FUCKING SERIOUS? You had all of SHIELD at your fucking fingertips and you didn't search for me until, what? Six months? A year? Two?"

"No! Not even two months! We just thought you'd grabbed a fake ID and went off to start somewhere new, but Dad ran all your IDs and none of them had even been touched. By then-"

"It was too late. They caught me after three days. By that time I'd already been hired, beaten, tortured-"

"Iris." Bucky whispered into her ear. She took a deep breath, relaxing against him.

"I'm sorry, sis. We didn't know. But you're here! You're with SHIELD and Mum and Dad will be so happy to know-"

"Two things wrong with that. First one- SHIELD doesn't exist. Not yet, anyway. And Mum and Dad aren't going to find out. We're on a mission Ben- there's no time for postcards or facebook. I don't know what they taught you at Tech, but this is Operations turf. You're just going to have to do what I say and deal with it."

"Actually, since I'm the only Operations cadette here-"

Kaitlyn was silenced by four steely glares. Rickon had stayed silent, watching the whole interaction with mild curiosity, though he seemed to prefer it when they were talking about the actual mission.

"Fury said me and Bucky are the leaders, and it's going to stay that way. We walk first, talk first, jump first, shoot first. Understood?"

"He didn't say talk fi-"

"Understood?"

Silence consumed them once more. Ben drew a breath, watching from the opposite side as Iris collapsed her head into her hands, Bucky rubbing circles on her back.

"How did you two meet?" He asked. The guy didn't seem like one who'd fall for the 'hurt-my-little-sis-and-I'll-kill-you-with-my-pinky-finger' speech, so he opted for the nice brother style. For now.

Iris glanced up at Bucky, who met her gaze and smirked. She snorted. He broke into a grin, getting wider as she burst into laughter.

"I was a poor zombie soldier, she was a feisty hypnotist. We just clicked." Bucky grinned, causing Iris to burst into another fit of laughter.

"Oh God. Imagine our version of How I Met Your Mother. Our kids will be scarred for life." She giggled in finality. Ben held his breath at the mention of kids, only to see Bucky grin a little bit wider. Iris didn't even seem to notice what she'd said.

The door opened and Fury walked in, handing a file to their captains.

"You jump in five minutes. There a bags for each of you by the door, along with parachutes. You're welcome to take you own weapons." His eyes drifted along Bucky's machine gun and Iris' sword. "There's also a change of clothes with body armour. Your coordinates will get beeped in once you've reached the ground."

None of them asked where they were jumping, knowing that they wouldn't get an answer. Just before she left to change into the new clothes, Fury grabbed her arm and put his mouth next to her ear.

"Paranoia is not a weakness Iris, not if you don't let it control you. It's gotten you this far, and chances are that it'll be the only thing letting you go further."

She jumped first, Bucky going last to make sure everything else went okay. Just before she leapt, he squeezed her hand and whispered something about her new black bodysuit, so similiar to his own, with a smirk in his eyes.

"Coordinates?" He shouted once he'd landed, the distance the plane had traveled making them have to jog to meet in the middle of their landing spots. She gazed at the numbers with a frown, trying to picture them on a map. The land that surrounded them was sandy and wide, the nearest site of civilisation a small lake a few miles away.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Ben whispered from behind her, his eyes trailing along the horizon just like hers did.

"Nope. Unfortunately this isn't Oz either- welcome to Australia."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Short chapter! Unfortunately it might take another one of these until we're back on our usual length. HOWEVER, I just thought I'd let you know that I have a plot for the rest of this story. That's right; this is no longer random babblings of my unwillingness to let go of these characters, but a genuine story. Still no estimate of remaining chapters, but just thought I'd prepare you guys ;) Thanks for the lovely reviews!_

_**Next chapter-** _Heat

_"You don't really have a choice in the matter."_


	14. Heat

All the message told them to do was to follow the coordinates, which meant walking over the bracken landscape for hours, under the torturous heat of the sun. The suits prevented them from getting burns or overheated on the flesh they covered, though their faces had to be covered with hats, sunglasses, and layers of sunscreen. However, the girls still insisted that their suits were too hot and rolled the tops down to try and cool their necks. As night began to fall, so did the temperature, and the five were forced to set up the tents in their backpacks and sleep.

"We only have three tents." Bucky announced. He and Rickon hadn't been given any, instead carrying an extra load of powered food and water bottles.

"Who wants to sleep alone?" Rickon grinned menacingly at Kaitlyn, who sighed with her nose upturned. Ever since her obvious letdown that Bucky was a loyal boyfriend, she hadn't taken a liking to any of the group. "Then it's settled. Me and Ben, Bucky and Iris, and Kaitlyn. Simple."

Ben opened his mouth as if to disagree, but was set down by a glare from both Iris and Kaitlyn. His request was probably to have the two girls bunk and leave Bucky on his own, and none of the party in question were going to pleased with that.

"It's okay. I've got it." Bucky whispered, setting up their tent in silence. She nodded, turning back to attend the small fire they'd built. Boiling was two packets of dried food with some water mixed in. It was easier to do the morning's breakfast the night before so they could just reheat and eat, even missing out the first part if needed.

The desert was quiet. The scratching's and squeaking's of it's residents were oblivion compared to the endless murmurs of HYDRA, or the clattering of the cities. In the other two tents Kaitlyn could be heard snoring, while Ben and Rickon fought quietly over space, only to fall asleep at the same time. By the time the moon was fully risen, it was only her and Bucky awake, lying back to back with tense shoulders.

"You never told me Ben still worked for SHIELD."

"I didn't really know. I thought that after the war he would have gone into hiding like a good agent. I thought Tilly's death had taught him enough to at least try and run."

She knew what he actually wanted to say, and so forced herself to stay awake, waiting for him to break.

"When did I become your boyfriend? It's not that I don't want to be, it's just that I would have liked to know before the rest of our team."

The answer had been nagging at her all day. Was it because they'd kissed? Because it seemed to fit? Because she just automatically assumed?

"You became my boyfriend the second I gave up everything to find you. You don't really have a choice in the matter." She decided on, letting herself relax as another yawn captivated her tongue. Bucky chuckled, rolling over so his body was pressed against hers, head on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't have chosen any differently anyway." He whispered, kissing her neck gently. With a quiet groan, she rolled over so her head was pressed against his stomach, his heart beat flowing over the amplified noises of the desert. Just before the gentle rhythm lulled her to sleep, he whispered four words, the vibrations echoing against her cheek.

"I love you Iris."

She tried to say it back, but her tongue was heavy and her eyes tired and she wasn't sure that he'd heard it.

The first thing she felt when she woke up was the pressure of his lips against her head, arms holding the two of them in place.

* * *

"So...did you two fuck?"

Of all the things Iris was expecting Rickon to say while they scanned the west side of the land they'd camped in, that was one she wasn't ready for.

"I...no...er...what, why...I...STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! WE DID NOT FUCK!"

Her voice echoed slightly in the small dip they'd resided in, causing her brother to look up from the fire, obviously startled.

"Jeez, okay. I just thought, one night totally alone together, pent up desire, etc, etc. We wouldn't have minded! Wait, was it the lack of condoms? Because you could have always asked Kaitlyn- she always has some just in case she-"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you say way too much?" She snarled through clasped teeth. Rickon looked at her in surprise.

"It's the reason I didn't get accepted into Operations. If I was ever captured and tortured for information, I'd either spill or take the pill."

This made her release her jaw from its tight clench. "What pill?"

Rickon shrugged, tapping one of his teeth. "A HYDRA technique. A few of us got them implanted- it's not SHIELD nesassary though! Actually, it's kind of SHIELD illegal, so if you'd mind-"

"Who else has them?"

At this question the man's eyes dropped. He must have been barely a year younger than her, but it that moment he looked about ten years old and four foot tall.

"Just some of my mates. One of them was bragging about it, so we got them as well, because there'd been a lot of capturing going on in the missions of our friends. We didn't know that it was HYDRA until..."

In a small act of compassion, Iris wrapped one arm around him in an awkward hug, patting his right shoulder carefully. "It's okay. We're going to get them all, and leave their stupid heads hanging."

The best way to destroy HYDRA, Iris realised, was to not. To preserve them, lock them in their own bases. The head would be intact, but silenced. No blades, no bullets, no SHIELD.

For a few seconds, the band of five seemed invincible in her head. HYDRA was nothing to them- they'd survived war, torture, discovery, Alfred, loss, death (repeatedly) and even Natasha fucking Romanov.

Unfortunately the most invincible things are always the easiest to break.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_PLOOOOOOOOT!_

_**Next Chapter-** _Snap

_"Wakey wakey sunshine."_


	15. Snap

They travelled for two more days, the GPS bleeping incessantly. That meant two days of Kaitlyn scowling, two mornings of Rickon's suggestive looks, and two nights of Ben's protective glares. It also meant that they'd spent two days walking in the full heat of the Australian sun, and Iris was peeling under the exhaustion. Literally.

"Oh my God. My shoulder is so itchy! Bucky, can you scratch it? It's just out of my...what?"

She frowned at Bucky, who had frozen by her shoulder, a look of shocked disgust on his face.

"Iris...your skin. It's..._peeling._" To emphasise the word, he grabbed something from her back and pulled it away slowly, revealing a strip of pale skin dangling from his fingertips. Beside them Rickon gagged.

"Is anyone else's doing that?" She whispered hoarsely. Kaitlyn scoffed, only to have Ben tap on her collarbone, where the sun had been eating away at her skin. Bucky frowned, checking all the exposed bits of his body while the boys laughed at each other's peeling necks.

"Strange. Must be the serum." He commented nonchalantly, his skin revealing no scars of the torturous sunshine. Iris scowled at him. "Don't worry. Do you want me to peel you?"

Rickon whispered something that earned him a punch from Ben, while Iris sighed and nodded. "We aren't going to get a proper bath until we reach our stupid destination, so it's sort of the only way."

That night they went to sleep with throbbing shoulders and dirty fingernails. That morning the first that Rickon's suggestive looks almost made them blush. _Almost._

* * *

"How far away are we?" Ben gasped through the heat. It was like liquid in their lungs. To avoid the midday heat, they slept early and left early, but unfortunately Mother Nature had it out for them, and the temperature was at boiling point by 9 am.

"Not too far away. There's something on the map just over those dunes. Maybe a road or a path-"

She was cut off by Bucky dragging her to the ground, a few thumps behind her telling that Rickon and Kaitlyn had also been dragged to the dirt.

"Bucky? What-"

This time it was the pressure of his hand across her mouth that silenced her, forcing her to watch through the dust as a distant hum grew louder and louder, revealing a few vehicles packed full of soldiers. They were only in her vision for a second, but it was long enough to see the symbol embosted on their sides.

"HYDRA." Ben breathed from behind her once the dust trails had fallen on the road. Her mouth felt dry. Her eyes were itching from the sand. Her stomach was doing pirahouettes and collapsing every time.

"So this is where Fury sent us. Into the heart of a HYDRA base." Bucky growled, his voice low but emotionless.

"Do you ever get the feeling that we're just little chess pieces on Fury's board?" Rickon commented, the first to get to his feet. Instead of adding to the hate-fest, Iris forced her mind to whirl into theories and attack plans.

"We wait for half an hour, because that's the usual patrol time. If there's nothing by then, then this must have been a one-time drive-by, and we keep on walking. Cross over the road and into the bushes on the other side as fast as we can."

No one questioned her. Together they lay in the sand, ignoring the crawling under their skin and the weight on their eyelids. Three minutes. Eleven minutes. Eighteen minutes. Twenty-six min-

The numbers in her head cut short as a hum filled the air. Dust was visible, clawing it's way from the dip that hid the rest of the road from their sight. She held up three fingers, and drew them down slowly.

Three.

_Walk first._

Two.

_Jump first._

One.

_Shoot first._

Her and Bucky sprang up from behind the slight slope, his machine gun instantly knocking the driver from his seat. Iris leapt into his abandoned seat, putting the truck on brake while slashing the stomach of the man in the passenger seat. From the compartment attached she heard screams and gunfire, ending in tangible silence.

"Bucky?" She whispered, approaching with caution. The handle of her sword was already slick with blood and sweat.

"Here. Where are the others?" He smiled awkwardly, trying to remove the ammunition from one man's gun while it was still clutched in his hand. Most girls would have ran from the relationship there and then, but like Iris had already previously pointed out, she wasn't most girls.

"Right behind-"

There was no tug bringing her to the ground, or hand caging the words into her mouth. It was like all air had been sucked from her lungs as she turned and stared at the three other members of their team, cursing herself for not checking. Not checking for cameras or back-up or _anything._

"Hello pet. It's lovely of you to join us again." The man at the front smiled, raising his gun and firing it at Bucky's bare hand as he leapt to attack. Iris stayed frozen, her gaze trapped on the knife held to her brother's throat, the skin still raw from where he'd been scratching at the peeled skin all of yesterday.

One snap in her stomach and two fired shots later, and Iris could swear she didn't remember a thing.

* * *

"Wakey wakey sunshine." A voice whispered through the darkness. Water clogged her nose and her throat, the endless fountain pouring over her head.

"Wakey wakey soldier." He hissed again. Light at the edge of her vision. Darkness inbetween. Water collapsed on to her eyelashes, but she couldn't blink them away as the cocoon was filling with water and her lungs were burning and she couldn't feel her fingers and her mind was shaking and someone was laughing...

The last thought before she succumbed to the sensation of drowning was wondering why it was so cold. It hadn't been five minutes since she and Bucky had-

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Just in case you guys don't get the last part, it's a reference to State of Mind Chap 1 (all those weeks ago) when Bucky is being frozen in the coffin._

_Also, I have a Poll going which will affect the next chapter (if enough people vote) so please just check it out and click on an answer!_

_**Next chapter-** _Prisoner

_"This is my turf now."_


	16. Prisoner

In a room on the left side of a long corridor, a prisoner sat with their hands strapped to the back of their chair. Their hair was soaked through and it blended with the blood that was crusted over the split cuts. They were silent.

Next to the door stood a man with a gun. He smirked after listening to his boss' orders as he left, the gun earning an extra stroke. The prisoner gulped despite themself, wondering what it would feel like. They'd never been murdered before, not like this.

Instead, however, they were left to wait, listening to the hum of conversation across the corridor. When the screaming started, the gun raised to point at their head as they tried to help the victim.

As they listened to their fellow prisoner writhing in agony, the only thought they could think was 'a bullet would be so much more merciful than this.'

* * *

Iris woke up cold, alone, and in complete darkness. She was hanging from the ceiling by her hands, though someone had been thoughtful enough to place a chair for her to stand upon so her wrists wouldn't break while unconscious. Her feet swung for a bit when she tried to see how far off she was from the floor, forcing her to stand still and wait.

And wait.

And sort of wait while she tried pulling herself up to gnaw through the ropes.

And wait for a bit longer once she'd realised that it was actually a form of wire and her teeth couldn't bite through it.

And get super startled when someone rudely interrupted her waiting and turned the light on.

"Hello pet. It's lovely to see you awake again." The man smirked at her.

For all the time she'd been waiting, she'd forgotten about remembering. Images reeled through her head, the same snake-like voice hissing words into her ear, tearing her away from the darkness every time it tried to consume her.

"Why am I here?" She croaked hoarsely. Her throat was dry and raw from trying to choke through the water, it's lining a mixture of flesh, sand and droplets.

"We have unfinished business, sweetpea." He smirked again, swirling a chair around so he was straddling it, positioning himself just out of kicking reach. "After all, you not only stole a trinket promised to me and blew up one of the offices I hold so dearly, you also killed one of my best soldiers on his return home. I'm very disappointed in you Iris- didn't your father teach you anything?"

The retort was on the tip of her tongue when he calmly stood up and dragged the chair from underneath her feet. Immediately her arms began to strain, the dull ache she'd been feeling intensifying into raw pain along her muscles.

"Here's something you need to understand, Iris. _You can never beat us_. No matter how many limbs your maim or heads you capture, we will always come back, and always twice as strong as before. We will always be watching you, keeping you just within our peripheral vision. After all, you're just another pawn on my chessboard, Williams. Yes, _my_ chessboard. I've won the game and I've stolen the board and I've changed the rules. This is my turf now."

His face was right against her, each hiss from his mouth releasing warm air over her nose and across her cheeks. It was lucky he was so close because otherwise her next words would have been lost. "The others? Where..."

The madness in his eyes melted slightly as her voice cracked away to nothing. He smiled sadly, as though the answer really did upset him. "Left to die. We only needed you, sweetheart. It's okay- Fury will find them in a few days, once you've prolonged your mission past the regulation standard. Hopefully they'll still be in one piece by then."

"Why do you...nee...need me?" Her eyes were drooping now, the pain in her arms fading to the back of her mind. Something was wrong. Nothing was right.

"We don't need you. Wrong word choice, my apologies." He leant in, his nose pressing aganst hers. His eyes were dark and rimmed with red, black specs of eyeliner dotting the waterline. " We _own_ you Iris Williams."

* * *

Water in her lungs. Fire on her flesh. Knifes under her nails. Nails in her feet.

She couldn't quite place the moment that she stopped screaming. She just knew that it was a while before they let her pass out.

* * *

"You never even thought of it. The possibility didn't even cross your mind."

_No. I thought I'd know._

"It seemed so fitting. The irony, that all the time you were saving one soldier, you really should have been saving yourself."

_I'm not like him. I'm not a killer. I'm not...am I?_

"We didn't make you do anything. You were our dirty little secret, our little joke. We saw everything sweetie. Saw every single detail of your fucking life for the past five months. We know it all."

_Liar, liar, liar. Stop lying. It isn't going to work on me!_

"No matter how far or fast you run, we will always find you Iris Williams. You are our soldier now. You follow our orders. Whether you like it or not."

_Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Get out of my he-_

"Yes sir."

_No sir. Say it. No. Sir._

"Good. Now, this time, would you mind staying silent? Your screams are quite distracting, and it would be such a shame if I did something wrong, wouldn't it?"

_No. It would be a welcome mista-_

"Yes sir. I'll stay silent."

_No. I won't. I swear to God and Fury and Odin and all the rest that I will not stop screaming until your fucking head explodes from the noise. I will find you, and I will-_

* * *

It was quite distracting, being kept under his power. She lost track of the days that ticked by, focusing on counting the number of times he sent her away. And brought the soldier out.

Bucky didn't have to go through this. He'd always been the soldier. She was helpless, the soldier being the tide that was slowly drowning her.

It was the fifth time he'd come into the room, and she prepared herself. Prepared her body for the thrashing limbs and her mind for the blinding pain as she tried to fight back and failed miserably every time.

"Hush, little soldier. No fighting today." His tone was almost regretful, withdrawing an instrument from his coat pocket. Her mind began flashing to all the things she'd yet to do. She hadn't forgived her brother, or visited Tilly's grave, or found her parents, or gone on a date with Bucky, or thanked Steve for the past five months. It was like a bucket list stating the wish to visit Jupiter.

He clicked the machine on, energy whirring inbetween the two prongs. It looked kinda like...a taser.

"A memory taser, correct?" He approached, smirking at her confusement. "You really should have thought of a better name."

Shocks radiated through her body and all the blood rushed to her head, forcing her to relax her body. Her hands strained against the wire as he once again removed the chair from underneath her feet.

"It's just so...unoriginal. Fitting, I guess, when you see its creator." Childish jabs. She couldn't figure out why he was resulting to this after leaving so many scars on her body. It wasn't like he could leave any scars on her mind. Not anymore.

"Why? Why free me?" She choked out. "If you don't need me anymore, why not just dispose of me?"

"I just have one last experiment." He smirked, ignoring her question and withdrawing a butcher's knife from another pocket in his coat. She got the feeling that she should have been scared, but all she could think was what amazing pockets that coat must have, and how jealous Fury would be if he ever found out.

"Don't worry, sweetpea. This will only hurt for a few hours."

* * *

The prisoner didn't deserve a bullet, apparently. They were just there as leverage. Sitting and eating and dying and listening to the screams of the other prisoner.

They knew who they were, but they also knew that it didn't work both ways. The prisoner was silent while his companion was a torrent of screams and blood and _them._

The prisoner longed for death. Not their own, of course. They longed to grab the gun holstered to their watcher's belt and watch him die slowly with a shard of it embedded in his stomach. They longed to set fire to their prison and watch it burns, the screams finally putting a smile on their face.

They longed to put their companion out of their misery.

But they knew they'd never have the strength to do it.

* * *

"Is she awake?"

"Patience. She will wake when she wants to."

Her eyes adjusted to the dull light. The points of pain were beginning to settle, but one kept on throbbing. It rose into the air, fingers moving just when she wanted them too.

"Am I your new lab rat? A little pet to test Zola's theories on?" She whispered hoarsely, her fingers still rattling in the air. The man stepped forward into her line of vision, smirking with delight.

"You'll be a lot more than a lab rat once I'm done with you, child."

He left her alone once more, his little servant scampering after him with once last glance of awe.

Iris stayed to where she was strapped to the new bed, her metal fingers opening and closing above her.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Thanks to all the people who voted! Obviously I don't have your pennames so you'd better know who you are :) I'll keep it open out of curiosity- personally I'd pick hand. Easier to conceal, plus you kinda need muscles to look good with a metal arm._

_**Next chapter-** _Encased

_"Our little toy soldier."_


	17. Encased

"Why didn't you ever use me?" Was the first thing Iris asked when she was back in control. Her metal hand clicked ominously against the side of the bed, obviously distracting her captor.

"The opportunity never arose." He replied casually. She frowned, thinking back to the five months they were inside her brain, and the more they'd spent lurking in there while she was at HYDRA.

"What do you, 'the opportunity never arose'? You could have gotten me to murder Fury. You could have had me take out some of the top remaining SHIELD agents before they'd even began rebuilding it. You could have had me blow up the bus, or stopped me killing Rowell, or had me bring Bucky to you-"

"But then they would have known you were in our command, and you'd become useless. Rowell, though useful, was dispensable. 'Bucky' failed his mission, and we would terminate him before ever using him again, especially after seeing how easily he can escape our control. And killing Fury won't kill SHIELD- in fact, it would probably make the remaining members even more determined to rebuild it. Like that stupid Coulson and his team-"

"Coulson?" Iris butted in, only to be butted out again.

"But anyway. The opportunity never arose, and it never will arise. We tried to command you to kill that snivelling recruit, like we did with Bucky when he first woke up."

Iris thought about it, remembering the awe-struck teenager who'd followed her captor out the room. "But I didn't. He's alive." She stated, her voice betraying her uncertainty. The captor smiled faintly.

"No, he's not alive. But no, _you_ didn't kill him. Like I said, a lot of people here at HYDRA are dispensable. When you cut off one head-"

"Two more grow in it's place. So what? In return for Rowell, you got two more super psycho agents? And in return for the 'snivelling recruit', you now have two of them scampering around after you?"

He smiled once more, but it didn't reach his eyes like it did before he injected the serum into her. She was still trying to figure that part out.

"Yes, and no. We have a lot of vines in a lot of gardens. We get what we need. But back to the original subject. You didn't kill him, no matter how hard we tried to get you to. You didn't even flinch." He stepped forwards, knees pushing against her own. "You are indestructible. Untouchable. Infathomable."

She suddenly felt very small and self-concious under his assessing gaze. It was like she was an anomaly in his great experiment, and for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. Actually, that's probably what it actually was.

"So why am I still here? Why haven't you shot me through the head, or thrown me out, or wiped my memory? Why am I just sitting here?" She whispered. Footsteps echoed outside, masked by the laughter that followed.

The captor looked at her in surprise, like he hadn't expected her to have not figured it out. "You might not fit our needs, little one, but Zola demanded his experiment to be finished." His hand picked up her own, fingers sliding up and down the metal casing. She could still feel her flesh underneath, if she pressed against it hard enough. Raw and throbbing and intertwined with wires and metal, but alive. Holding on just as strong as she was.

His smile reached his eyes as he dropped her hand and backstepped to the door, shining menacingly in the gloom.

"Unfortunately for you, Williams, you're the perfect candidate. Our little toy soldier."

* * *

Dry.

Their lips, their mouth, their eyes, their skin.

So dry.

So alone.

So scared.

Their companion hadn't screamed for a few days. Maybe days, or maybe hours, or maybe even weeks. All they knew was that the silence was suffocating, almost making them wish for the painful screams once more.

But that was wrong. That was insane. That was what _they_ wanted, for their mind to crumble and break until they were nothing but silent screams and dry eyes. Lips. Mouth. Skin.

In the end, all they would be was envelopes of cracked skin, all folding over each other.

_Why weren't they screaming?_

* * *

She studied Zola's notes. She'd studied them for days, pouring over them in the small lab back in Germany, Alfred humming in the room next to her.

She hoped Alfred was okay.

In her head, the robot had seemed amazing. Impossible, but amazing. A metal casing entwining itself with the human body, making them almost indestructible. You could tell that it was Zola's dream, to be the one forever drowning in an empty metal structure. But then he grew old and he died and it was left up to HYDRA to fulfil their doctor's last wish.

It would hurt. A lot. Her hand was aching now, but she brushed it off along with the throbbing of the healing wounds across the rest of her body. But later, when it was her entire body under the pressure of a second skin, a million times heavier and stronger than the first...it would be like wearing a titanium onesie. _Forever._

Breathing deeply, she sunk herself back into soldier mode. It was cold and unemotional, but it got the job done. Her mind assessed the fragments she could decipher from Zola's messy, bilingual writing, and began forming categories.

**BAD**

-Pain

-To get it undone would be either a) impossible, b) extremely painful or c) result in the loss of quite a few limbs. And possibly her head.

-Not very attractive (unless you look like Bucky)

-Can't get a tan, or go swimming, except if you want to look like the tin man from Wizard of Oz. Which you don't.

-It would stink, unless there was built-in deodrant dispensers. Which, according to Zola's plans, there isn't

**GOOD**

-Large advantages in a fight (Meet my metal fist, bitch!)

-You don't have to waste hours on the beach to get said tan, and don't have to suffer the pain of getting sunburn instead

-Me and Bucky would either look like an adorable, matching couple, or like two super-freaky killing machines (that could be classed as **BAD**, depending on perspective)

-It has to be done in sections

The last one meant that they wouldn't be able to sit her down and do a full body encasing in one go, unless they put her into a coma for two months. Just doing the hand probably took them a few days, maybe even a week if you stretch it, and that was relatively simple comparing to encasing her skull or her torso or her foot (do you know how many bones they'd have to go through?)

There's also a chance of death by shock if they did it all at once, which is why it had to be subtle. A hand. A forearm. A shoulder. A thigh. A hip-bone. Bit by bit until she was in full Silver Surfer mode.

That would give her a chance. Let them finish off a section, and then bust her way out of there. As long as they allowed her to stay awake during the days between surgeries, and actually worked on a useful section, because though...different, having a metal waist probably wouldn't help her escape plan.

When the captor arrived the next morning with five armed soldiers and a syringe, she just had one question for him.

"When the suit's all finished, how am I meant to pee?"

* * *

Her.

Shoulder.

Was.

Fucking.

On.

Fire.

Iris woke up with a gasp, gingerly touching the cool surface with her finger tips. It stretched from the edge of her collar bone to an inch or two above her shoulder, like a small drape. _And it fucking hurt._

"Hello, little one. Did you have a nice sleep?"

Her head turned so fast she was pretty sure her neck cracked, but that didn't matter. The captor sat in a chair in the corner by the door, reading a book like he was just an average visitor at an average hospital.

"Why my shoulder?" She asked curiously, wincing as the skin underneath throbbed once more.

"You've been losing weight. Made it a little harder to do from your wrist to your forearm. It was either that or your head, and I thought we'd leave that for last. Or maybe just give you a mask if there was too many complications."

She nodded, trying to put weight on it without screaming. "How long until the next operation?" She hissed.

"Tonight. We just had to wait to make sure you were awake and alive."

Her stomach clenched, but she tried to cover it up with another question. "Is it meant to hurt this much? It felt like nothing with my hand, but this...Could it be infected?"

He laughed. Something else twisted in her stomach. "Iris. With your hand, you were asleep for three days following the surgery. You slept right through the pain and the healing."

She gulped, trying to guess what his patronising smile meant. "So? How long have I been asleep this time?"

His grin widened. "A few hours. Four, tops. You have another two before you're back in there. Oh, and to answer your previous question, you don't. When in the full suit, there will be no need for...normal human routines."

With a final smirk he left the room, probably to alert the doctors of her awakening. Immediately her stomach twisted itself into a tiny origami ball, while her heart began beating erratically.

Six hours. Six hours between each surgery.

She needed to escape. And fast.

* * *

There'd been a lot of activity over the past week or so. Lots of rumours of metal soldiers and Zola.

They wanted to beg for information while screaming at them to all shut up.

They couldn't figure out if it was the silence that was killing them, or the constant whispers of life.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_I'm sort of behind on the writing part (I literally just wrote this chapter) so there won't be a 'Next chapter' thingy until there actually is a next chapter. I'd just like to thank you all for your feedback on the last chapter, it made me smile a lot, and please leave a review! Happy thoughts make happy authors :)_

**_Next Chapter-_ **Obstacles

_It was going to be a long night._


	18. Obstacles

She had two hours to escape the HYDRA facility.

She didn't know how many soldiers were inside, or how many weapons they carried.

She didn't know anything about the layout, not how many floors or how many corridors or how many rooms.

She didn't even know where they were. Australia still? Or had she been moved to one of their countless other facilities in all the other countries crowding the globe?

But she was determined, and she was paranoid. It was like every camera in the building was zoned in on her, every gun facing in her direction. She could pretend she had a thousand men on her trail, having to fight her way through a hundred floors with a million corridors and a billion rooms, but it still didn't take the smile off of her face.

For they, HYDRA, the most feared corporation since 19430-something, the company which had brought SHIELD to it's knees, begging for life, had just made the biggest mistake of their life.

They'd let her live. And what was worse?

She'd gotten an upgrade.

* * *

The first obstacle was to get out of her room. Luckily her metal fist packed a powerful punch, and she was out in less than five seconds (of course this was after she'd disabled the three security cameras dotted around the walls)

The second obstacle was the guards outside of her room. This also solved her third problem though, as it gave her new clothes, weapons, and a key card, while telling her that yes, her shoulder was now bullet proof.

The rest of her arm, however, wasn't.

With the optimistic hope that the second guard's t-shirt would provide as enough of a bandage to get her out of here, Iris cruised through the rest of the floor, staying as quiet as she could. The HYDRA men had been wearing hats, providing her with some cover from security cameras, while the uniform blended in nicely with the rest of the people she passed. Soon enough, though, the alarm would go off and it would get a lot harder to avoid capture.

But like she said; one obstacle at a time.

* * *

It took her another fifteen minutes to reach an elevator, and when there the first thing she did was see how may floors there was.

Fifty.

That ruled out underground base, because c'mon. Who has the time or ability to build a fifty-floor building under the ground?

But it also meant that this was either a smaller version of the Fridge (her Dad had once told her and Ben 'top secret' stories about it's 100 floors), or HYDRA was getting bold.

Then she rethought. What if they were in a city? An apartment or office complex, whether an abandoned one or not, wouldn't get much attention. Seeing people inside wouldn't be that much of a shocker, and it would be easy to hide if the HYDRA part was just a section running up it's core, the windows covered by mini 'apartments' or 'offices'. It would be a perfect disguise, and very HYDRA-esque; hiding in plain sight.

But that was ridiculous. Before her capture, they were in the middle of the desert, with the place Fury wanted them to investigate even deeper into the desert.

Shaking the rant of thoughts from her head, she hit the button for the first floor and shut the doors just as a HYDRA soldier called out for her to wait. Suspicion she could handle, but conversation was another thing entirely.

This, however, was put to the test when her elevator stopped at the fifth floor and an scientist walked in. He was in his forties, with the starts of a salt and pepper beard tinging the edges of his face.

"Hello." He smiled brightly. She smiled tightly back, keeping her gaze fixed on the door while her body stood in a soldier stance. Straight legs held together, arms fastened behind her, back held strong, head held high. The man hummed for a bit before speaking again.

"Busy day, isn't it? Especially with all the hubbub from floor 48. Makes you wish you had a higher security level, doesn't it?"

An idea popped into her head. A brilliant, mind-blowing idea, which almost made her break cover and smile with glee. "Anteeksi. En puhu Englanti."

The man looked at her in shock. "You're Finnish? I didn't know we'd hired any foreigners later...well, my own Finnish is a little rusty, but I could-"

With a flash of her new gun, the scientist was knocked out on the floor. She stopped the elevator at the third floor and dumped him outside.

"Anteeksi." She smirked, sliding back in just as the doors shut and a soldier rounded the corner. She had just over an hour before her cell would be found empty, if not less. If she hadn't just blown her cover by knocking out a middle-aged scientist.

But that didn't matter. From what the scientist had said, the higher your security level, the higher you were permitted to go. She'd been held on the 48th floor, which meant there was 2 more floors of an even higher security than her and Zola's project.

The thought almost made her want to press the button labelled '50', but strategy stopped her. The soldier's ID card she'd stolen wasn't permitted to go any higher than the 48th, and it would be better to storm it with a large group, and larger chances of survival.

Quietly, the doors slid open, and she stepped through cautiously. It was another set of corridors, but at the end of the one directly in front of her she could see doors leading to two sets of stairs. Hand still clutched around her gun and head pulled down to avoid the visible cameras.

It was too quiet.

But she carried on anyway. The double doors swung open with ease, and curiosity forced her to look at the stairs leading upwards. About six floors above her, they cut off. It was like they'd given up on building it, the entire fleet ending arubtly after one step. Paranoia settling itself in her stomach, she hurried down the stairs and walked on to the ground floor. It was set out like a lobby, a man casually flicking through a magazine by the door. From outside, it would look average. From where Iris stood, she could see the guns bulging in his pockets, and the comm inserted neatly into his ear.

Another glance around made her spot a door labelled 'garage'. With a quick smirk she slipped through, taking a glance at her ID while she did so. 'Robert' had admittance to a lovely green 4x4, as well as a flashy red motorbike. She took both sets of keys and dragged the motorbike into the back of the 4x4, glad that the boot was as spacious as she'd guessed.

Just as the alarms began vibrating the air around her, the gates opened, and she was out.

* * *

There wasn't much to do. Dismantle any security cameras, trackers, or comm units hidden in or on the vehicle. Figure out where she was (still Australia, and definitely a city.) Figure out how far away from the desert she was, and how long it had been since she was there. Figure out a way to contact Bucky or Fury or Steve. Rebandage her arm, which had luckily stopped bleeding (it was only a graze anyway).

But for the moment, there was the issues of food. And how to get it without getting asked any questions.

She'd bought gloves, but in the heat they didn't provide so much as a cover but more as a reason for suspicion. She contemplated the lie of having a skin condition, but the prospect of suffocating her right hand in the unbearable heat underneath an extra layer or two was too much to bare.

Then she saw that some people were in costume. Not just any costumes, but bow-ties and star-spangled suits and magical utility belts sort of costumes.

One large cloak and some face-paint later, and she had herself a large bag of chips and directions to the desert.

* * *

There had been some commotion outside their door, not that his guard noticed. He was too busy watching some program on his phone to even send a glance in their direction.

114 minutes later and the alarm rang out. Their guard disappeared. They were left alone, but they still got the gist between raised voices and frustrated growls.

They'd escaped.

And they'd left them behind.

* * *

She took the road out of the city, and came upon the corner that they'd been ambushed after ten minutes or so. But it was from the wrong way. She arrived from the direction that the HYDRA cars had been driving towards, not away from, which meant that they'd driven from somewhere else to get to the city. One scan of the unmarked sand later, and she kept on driving.

And driving.

And driving.

And driving.

Just before she drove the car into the endless dunes that surrounded her, there was a shimmer of something ahead. Another town, intertwined to the one she'd come from by a single road.

Fear lurking in her gut, she booked herself into a motel and sat by the phone for an hour.

When the clock ticked into it's place at 8pm, she picked it up and dialled.

"Hello? Tasha speaking."

"Iris Williams. A motel in the town that the cars had come from. Requesting immediate pick-up."

She hung up before she could interject, and sat cross-legged on the bed with her gun in hand, eyes trained on the door.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Before Natasha and whoever else arrived, Iris hid her metal components. The shoulder was easily covered with a double-layer of t-shirts, one skin-tight and warm and the second floaty and suitable. She opted for bandages wrapped around her left hand, with the ploy that she had burns across them that needed healing. It helped that she still had faint bruises and the raw bullet graze to back her recent torture story up.

The prospect of trust flashed across her mind quite a few times, but she stopped herself from unravelling the bandages. The only reason they accepted Bucky's arm was because he'd lost his own. What would they say about her, the sleeping traitor in their midst, with flesh encased in metal chains?

She wasn't prepared to take that risk. She wasn't prepared to see their reactions.

_Our little toy soldier._

More like 'our little toy robot.'

* * *

It was 4:27am when there was a knock at the door. Iris stayed where she sat.

Exactly one minute later, and Natasha Romanov knocked the entire door down. Iris stayed where she was, eyeing her curiously. No visible scars or wounds, only worry and relief.

"We need to get out of here. Now." She did a double-take of the room, a frown settling on her features before her gaze went back to Iris.

"Where's Ben?"

* * *

They were sure that she hadn't meant to leave them behind. She hadn't known they were here, after all. At least, that was what they presumed.

They were drawn from their thoughts when the door opened, revealing his guard and the boss. They hadn't seen the boss since he punched and drowned him, asking for information. They knew that the only reason the boss had stopped was because she'd awoken, and the only reason they didn't dare say anything important inside their head was in case the boss was listening.

The boss looked angry, but it faded to consideration as the boss eyed them up and down.

"I guess he'll have to do." The boss sighed, motioning for the door to be shut behind him. A sadistic smirk grew on the boss' face as the boss was handed a few lethal looking pieces of equipment by the guard.

"Hello Ben Williams. Are you ready to follow in your sister's footsteps?"

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Two things to say- congrats to DarkHorseBlueSky on their guess for the Silent Prisoner's identity. You were wrong, but it's the thought that counts ;) Also, yes, I do...borrow my reader's ideas. That's the reason I love it when you lot review- it makes the story seem more than me sitting alone in my room ignoring the gigantic pile of work sitting in the corner. _

_Secondly, Turkish delight hot chocolate is the nicest damn thing ever. I don't care if it's summer, buy it and drink that motherfucker up. You'll be thanking me for it later._

_**Next Chapter-** _Hostage

_"Something's wrong."_


	19. Hostage

After Iris had finished shrieking at Natasha about losing her brother, and once the hyperventilating and high-pitched squeals had ended, Natasha began explaining things. Slowly.

"Fury had sent you guys to look at an abandoned war facility in the desert. He didn't know that HYDRA was anywhere near there, but as soon as he scoped them out with the cameras he sent a team in to help you. But..." She trailed off, eyeing Iris warily. She just waved her on, still breathing deeply into the paper bag one of Tasha's soldiers had gotten her. "He was too late. You and Ben had gone and the others were out cold."

"Even Bucky?" She gasped comically.

"Well, no. It actually took us a while to find him; he'd sort of chased after you guys. But lack of hydration and the blood pouring from his hand kind of forced him to stop."

Iris' mind flashed back, remembering her turning around and staring in shock at the men holding their teammates by the throats. Bucky moved behind her, and a shot rang out. She hadn't even flinched.

"But we found him, and he's okay. By that time Sam and Steve had arrived with their crew, and we all split up. Me and Sam went back to America to sort out some other business, Rickon and Kaitlyn were sent to a special hospital somewhere to heal, but Bucky and Steve have been searching for you. And Ben, of course. Last I heard they were hunting down some ex-HYDRA agents for info."

Iris' breathing was now back to normal and her head thinking straight, telling her to completely avoid the topic of Ben. Her brother. Her brother who had probably been in the same facility as her, possibly even undergoing the same torture. Her brother who she'd left behind.

"You didn't know." Natasha whispered, reading her thoughts as they flashed across her eyes.

"That's the issue." Iris whispered back.

Knowing that making her talk would just make things worse, Natasha stood up and lifted the pile of weapons into a bag. "We're going to meet them somewhere a little more...remote. Fury should be sending in the coordinates now. Are you coming?"

For an awful second both of them thought that Iris' mouth would form the small two-letter word which signal her final defeat. How could she cope after this? She'd lost her parents, her sister, her boyfriend, and now her brother. How could she make herself stand up and do it all over again?

"Of course. But I'm picking the music."

Natasha rose an eyebrow like she would always do, but once her face was away from Iris' view, it broke into a large grin.

Sometimes it was good to know that the team could still be a team, even after three months of separation.

* * *

It took them over an hour to get to the coordinates Fury had sent them. That meant an hour of Iris' 'alternative' music (which is basically normal music but better, and less popular) while she slept in the passenger seat. Natasha didn't have the heart to turn it off, nor the strength to face an angry and sleep-deprived Iris Williams.

The little woman could be terrifying at the best of times.

The building was obviously abandoned, but they could tell where Steve and Bucky had slid through the gates, leaving behind a small blue band around the lock to tell them they'd arrived. A goofy grin on Iris' face, she walked in first, humming quietly as she searched the spacious rooms for the boys. _Her_ boys.

They found their camp down a small corridor, in a room which hosted both a medium sized window and a fire escape route. However, though the boy's bags were there, with their sleeping bags half unravelled, the boys themselves were nowhere to be seen.

"Something's wrong." she whispered just as Natasha entered the room, calling after her in confusement as she hurtled down the corridors and out into a large yard. Just like last time, there was no tug bringing her to the ground, or hand caging the words into her mouth. It was like all air had been sucked from her lungs as she ran outside and stared at the two members of her team, _her_ boys, cursing herself for believing. Believing that they would find each other and find Ben and everything would be _okay_ for once.

The captor stepped forward, not even saying a word as Natasha and her men hurtled into the yard after her. All he did was smirk, and beckon for a third prisoner to be brought forward, a bag cloaking his face.

But she _knew_. She knew exactly who they had, who it would take to bring the two greatest men she knew out into the open, unprepared. Just the same as she'd done for them; hope. Hope of reuniting, hope of that tiny fairytale you really want to come true.

The bag was pulled away, and Iris stared into the blue eyes of her brother, his mouth a torrent of apologies and trust me's and it's not what you think's.

The captor grinned at the exchange between them. "It's almost like a family reunion. You know, brother and sister, soldier and soldier, robo-man and robo-girl. Do you need some time to catch up, or can I just get started?"

* * *

He'd said no. They tried to force him anyway. He refused until they gave up and settled on plan B.

Funnily enough, being bait was a much better prospect than being a traitor.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_I quite like writing from Ben's mind. He's older and seems more intellectual and mature, and broken easier than the others. Anyway, thanks for your lovely reviews, and keep on r+r-ing! _

_**Next chapter-** _Unstoppable

_"Good thing I don't use bullets."_


	20. Unstoppable

**PREVIOUSLY**

_The bag was pulled away, and Iris stared into the blue eyes of her brother, his mouth a torrent of apologies and trust me's and it's not what you think's._

_The captor grinned at the exchange between them. "It's almost like a family reunion. You know, brother and sister, soldier and soldier, robo-man and robo-girl. Do you need some time to catch up, or can I just get started?"_

* * *

Now, Iris Williams isn't well-known for her lack of judgement. She likes to think things through, to always have a plan E on board. This was mainly because her last lapse in judgement (running away from her parent's house and living on the streets with no protection) ended up in a three-year imprisonment and a grave with her name on it.

So, when she launched herself at the captor, armed with nothing but a half-empty gun and a knife (which she'd actually forgotten she had), it was a little more than surprising.

And that gave her the upperhand.

The captor stumbled back, giving her time to steady herself and throw a punch at his stupid, smirky face. Behind her Natasha fired a few shots, making the HYDRA soldiers clutching Bucky, Steve and Ben drop like flies. This was followed by all out commotion, shots firing and punches throwing, HYDRA and SHIELD clashing against each other in a small, abandoned yard outside an abandoned factory, somewhere in the depths of Australia. Not your usual setting for an epic battle between clans.

In all truth, it was slightly ridiculous. But that didn't matter, as the captor attempted to swipe Iris' feet out from underneath her, only to recieve her metal fist in his stomach.

"Bet you're wishing you'd found yourself another toy soldier now, eh?" She snarled, grabbing his hair and throwing the same punch repeatedly, not stopping when his ribs had cracked and blood was spluttering from his lips.

"Wait..." He gasped. She paused, panting slightly. The rest of the fighting had dimmed. She didn't look around. "There's something you need to know.." He grabbed the shoulders of her t-shirt and dragged her down, looking her directly in the eyes. In the distance, Ben shouted out "don't listen to him! Kill him, Iris! Don't listen to him!" but she didn't hear him. "The second you put a bullet through my head," He pulled himself a little closer to her ear. "Two bullets go straight through the skulls of your stupid, SHIELD-crazy parents."

There was a ringing in her ears. She stepped back from him, looking him up and down in a new light. It wasn't a brilliant light, maybe a shade or two less dim than earlier, but still, it was different. But didn't make it enough.

"Good thing I don't use bullets." Iris said quietly.

Her hand reached for her knife, ready to put a hole through his heart and put him out of his misery. In a last attempt of survival he lunged forward, tearing down the left sleeve of her t-shirt and ripping the bandages from her hand.

Iris barely heard the gasps of the rest of her team as the light reflected off the metal of her hand. All her focus was poured into the man before her. The man who had tortured her, tortured her brother, recruited her sister, destroyed her family, destroyed _her._ He had made her into a monster, into something irreparable and infathomable. An endless anomaly.

The fist rose around his neck and squeezed. It kept on squeezing as his fingers clawed at the metal flesh, as his skin turned blue and something in his throat cracked ominously. She kept on squeezing with her eyes trained on his until she was sure that he was dead, and sure that she was the last thing he'd ever seen. His little toy soldier, and his biggest mistake.

And then reality came back to her. She opened the hand and let him drop, freezing herself with arm in the air. The breathing of her team was so loud, flushing out the ringing and the words which hadn't stopped echoing around her head.

She wasn't ready to take the risk. She wasn't ready to watch their reactions.

So she did what any person in her situation would do, and ran.

* * *

Bucky felt like he'd just been choked.

Three months ago, he'd watched helplessly as HYDRA dragged his girlfriend and her brother away from him. He'd ran for as long as he could after them, even after the chance of finding them was long gone.

Then he'd searched for her, just like she'd searched for him. Luckily he had certain area to start searching in, while Iris had had the entire globe to hunt through, but she still did it. She tried and she succeeded, so why shouldn't he have been able to do the same?

When Natasha had sent them the text stating 'purple', he could barely breathe. He had Steve check the text and that Natasha had used the correct codeword five times before he let himself believe it. Iris. She was alive. She was safe.

They'd driven as fast as they could to the coordinates, 'borrowing' a couple of motorbikes while they were at it. Steve had laughed at his goofy smile while they were rolling out their sleeping bags, but he didn't mind. Both of them knew that the second the other's back was turned they'd be wearing identical grins of childish excitement.

That was when things went downhill. They'd heard Ben's voice, and rushed towards it, presuming that he'd either arrived with the girls and Natasha had forgotten to mention it (his codeword was 'blue') or he'd found them on his own. Either way, they were ridiculous theories, and the two men should have recognised the gritty texture to his voice as he shouted the words he was forced to. By the time they reached the courtyard, it was too late. They'd lost.

Things went back uphill for a while. When Iris had appeared, his entire stomach had dropped, and it took everything in him to stop himself from screaming at her to run. Slit throat or not, just having her safe would be worth anything. When they'd unmasked Ben, he thought she was going to lose it. He would have, if he had been in her situation.

Then he spoke, in an authorative, smirky voice. "You know, brother and sister, soldier and soldier, robo-man and robo-girl." It was barely a whisper in the wind, his mind too trained on Iris to take the words in. But they sunk, and they sunk deep, and let him wondering what he meant. Robo-man? Robo-girl? Soldiers? It was too much thought for too little time.

But he guess she did lose it eventually, just not in the way he'd expected. She'd jumped on the HYDRA man like a fucking wolf, punching and kicking and biting. Him and Steve took out four HYDRA men between them, and all that was left to do was wait for Iris to finish him.

Another 'she's-going-to-lose-it-moment' was when he told her HYDRA had eyes on her parents. It could have been brushed off as a ruse, but the possibility of it was too large to ignore. After all, they had eyes everywhere, and a pair in her family's region would be little more than a coincidence.

He'd been about to intervene when the HYDRA man lunged forwards and ripped the bandages away from her left hand, revealing the gleaming metal flesh underneath. From another rip in her shoulder he could see more metal glinting, moving fluidly with her collarbone and upperarm.

By the time he'd recovered himself, she was running.

And being who they were, he ran after her.

* * *

Her back was turned from the direction she'd ran from, gaze transfixed on the shimmering material of her hand. More than anything in the world, Iris wanted to be able to say that it was just a dream. That she'd wake up in Australia, maybe after being knocked out by the HYDRA swat team. Bucky and Ben and Steve would be waiting for her, and everything would be alright.

However, Iris was a clever girl, and clever girl's know too well the stupidity of impossible wishes.

"Iris?" His voice was cautious as his feet skidded to a halt. A sob rose in her throat, choking out as the reflections danced across the crumbling walls. "Iris." Bucky breathed, stepping up behind her and encasing her tiny body in his arms. She'd always been small, but now she was juts of bone and skin of glass, and he was almost afraid to touch her.

"I'm so sorry." She gasped through the chokey tears. He squeezed her harder, trying to figure out why she needed to apologise.

"For what? For being captured? For being tortured? For escaping, for surviving all of this all over again? You need to apologise for nothing Iris. iI should be the one who apologises."

She shook her head firmly, wiping away the stray tears with the edge of her t-shirt. "You tried to find me. I just..." The thought of turning and seeing his disgust as he looked at her almost made her shiver. When she was human, he'd been fine with loving her, but now? When she was patchy and awkward and cold? "I just look really ugly when I cry." She smiled, only to break down into another flow of tears.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm here, and I swear I'm not going anywhere. Except maybe to kill those HYDRA bitches, but I'm sure you'll join me in that. We could be a pair! Punching all their stupid heads into the ground with our mighty fists! We'll be unstoppable."

Frowning, but with a sparkle in her eyes, she turned around his arms to face him. His left arm was pressed against her back, the cold metal seeping through her top, so she placed her left hand on to his cheek. He leant into it, barely noticing the difference in temperature. A few clingy, girly questions bubbled through her mind, asking if he wanted to stay, or if he didn't care about her new parts. But she brushed the paranoia from her mind and smiled, pulling him down and herself up so that their foreheads were resting against each other's.

"Can we get matching outfits?" She giggled, brushing their metal flesh against each other. He smiled back, babbling about eye shadow and bad-ass boots.

And she believed him.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Bit of fluff at the end for you. We are unfortunately nearing the end, guys. I'm not going to lie, I am trying to postpone it, but it's going to happen. You know, once I actually write the next few chapters (probably this weekend, so warning that updates MIGHT not be as regular as they have been) Thanks for your lovely reviews! Smiley faces will be awarded :) They're like computerised smiley faced stickers, only simpler. And sideways._

**_Next Chapter-_**Truthfully

_"You weren't the sister they were talking about."_


	21. Truthfully

Broken. Bloody. Battered.

That's how the five of them walked up to Fury's Globemaster, smiles stitched on to their faces. Iris held Bucky's human hand in her metal one, and they smiled as Ben awkwardly talked to Natasha. Steve was on Bucky's other side, sighing as they began talking about 1939 again, a heavy metal arm drawing him in closer.

"SHIELD isn't reformed." The Director told them from across the table. "Officially we are a terrorist organisation. Few remain loyal, and those who do so do it at the risk of their lives. I wouldn't hold it against you if you left now. I would do the same, if I had anywhere else to run. But if you stay..." Fury paused, dipping his head. A shadow formed around his jaw from where he hadn't been shaving. "I swear that you will be treated just like any SHIELD agent would. You won't be level 1's or 5's, you will be my right hand men...and women. But you have to make your choice now; are you part of this team or not?"

"SHIELD without the badge." Steve stated in the silence. "I think I can live with that."

* * *

Iris had to wear an arm sleeve. Bucky wouldn't stop laughing at her.

"You're no better! They have to cut off the whole arm of any suit you get!"

"But look at it! It looks like a legwarmer!" He giggled. She scowled back, scratching the bandage wrapped above her elbow absentmindedly. Since their metal bodyparts were bulletproof, and looked slightly ridiculous with the skin-tight suit pulled over the top, their armour had to be cut accordingly. For Bucky, that was simple; remove the left arm and you're done. But since Iris still had exposed flesh in the middle section of her arm, her suit had to be cut up a little more...inventively.

"Stop laughing. It's not very nice." Steve tutted, the amusement on his face apparent. Through the glass Rickon was welcoming Ben back with open arms, laughing about an old joke. Iris averted her eyes.

"You'll have to talk to him sooner or later." Bucky whispered. She just nodded, laughing as Steve tried on her arm sleeve and failed to get it past his wrist.

Though later seemed like the better option, the way her brother kept on glancing through the glass at them, she knew that sooner was her only option.

* * *

"First things first. You didn't leave me. You didn't know. So don't beat yourself up. You suffered more when I didn't save you, and I _knew_ you were gone. Okay?"

Iris nodded. Ben seemed so much older than the 27 he was. His blue eyes were dull and tired, his skin weary from the weight it had been forced to hold. He was a scientist, not a spy. He shouldn't have had to gone through that.

"What did they do to you?" She whispered. Everyone else was back in the main room, talking about next steps and where to's. They were alone, locked together in a twisted reunion.

"You first." He shot back. When she rose her eyebrow, he sighed and said, "I heard you screaming. I need to know why."

What she wanted to do was cry. He'd heard her screaming. He'd been forced to listen to her torture, never knowing exactly what was happening. A year ago Pierce had forced her to watch Bucky have his memories removed once more, but at least then she'd known what was happening. Known that it was repairable.

"They drowned me. Whether with a cloth over my face or my head thrown in to a bucket I don't know, I don't know the technique they chose. All I know is that they knocked me out, took me to the building, drowned me, and then woke me up."

"The screaming part Iris. You weren't screaming when they were drowning you." Ben pointed out, his eyes hard. She focused back to when she was telling Bucky about her mission, about her time in HYDRA, and tried to adapt the same cold expression she had then.

"They tortured me. Shoved nails through my arms and feet, stuck knives in me, tore some of my nails off. A lot of head banging and hair ripping too. They didn't rape me, if that's what you're worried about. HYDRA doesn't work like that. Instead they told me that I'd been under their command ever since I released Bucky. For the past three years, they've been inside of my head, and there was nothing I could do."

"Are they..." He trailed off, motioning towards her head. Iris smiled faintly.

"No. They tasered me, with my own taser, and then gave me this." She rose the metal hand into the air, turning it around elegantly. "Told me I was their little toy soldier. A perfect canditate for what Zola and Pierce were never able to finish."

"Winter Soldier 2.0." Ben breathed with realisation. She nodded, not catching his eyes for a few moments. When she did, she motioned for him to talk.

"They drowned me. But they didn't torture me. They just forced me to listen...that was enough, in a way. The silence was overpowering; I thought I was going insane. When you escaped...I heard you leave. My ears were used to listening out for small noises, and I heard you. It took them 114 minutes to discover what I had."

They both breathed in slowly. "What then? Why use you as bait?"

"They asked me if I wanted to follow my sister's footsteps." He smiled. "I said no."

"They asked you to become their next...experiment?" Iris finished, her face showing her horror and disgust. Ben's head flashed up, barely glancing at the way she was scratching the metal like it would stop them from going near him. Using him next in their ever growing line of lab rats.

"When they asked me if I wanted to follow in my sister's footsteps..." He leaned in, the hurt obvious in his eyes, "You weren't the sister they were talking about."

* * *

"She was a good soldier. HYDRA or not, she will always be one of us." Fury sighed. The two Williams children stood before him, Iris' eyes stained red and Ben's hands shaking.

"That was why they'd let me kill Rowell, wasn't it?" She choked. "He'd broken the rules and killed one of his own."

"He probably didn't know she was one of them-"

"He told me that she squealed. Begged for mercy. She was trying to tell him that she was one of them, and he didn't listen. He killed my sister. My sister was HYDRA."

The words were like vomit, refusing to stop pouring out of her head and on to her tongue.

"She's probably how they found me! She knew where I'd run to, and as soon as she got my coordinates she sent HYDRA in. Evening the playing field of Williams."

"Ben..." Fury motioned, allowing him to exit. Iris remained where she was, breathing in shudders as the hysteria left her.

"I'm sorry for your loss. What do you want me to tell your parents?"

In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four. "Nothing. To them she can always be the perfect daughter, the perfect soldier. There's no point in ruining that vision now."

There was more silence, each waiting for the other to collect their thoughts. Tilly's secret would die between the three of them, just like it should have died with the captor.

"Fury." She raised her head, pulling her shoulder back into the appropriate stance.

"Agent Williams." He retorted. By the look in his eye, he already knew what she was going to ask, but both of them needed to hear it.

"It's just Williams, sir. No badge, no title. Just like you said."

Breathe. "I think I know what you want."

"Are you going to refuse me of it?"

A tilted eyebrow. A slow smirk. "Only if you don't let me fire the first shots."

Two smirks. A small plan. "Deal."

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Thanks for your loveliness. It's nice-ish weather over here in England, and I've finally caught up with both Agents of SHIELD and Game of Thrones. A good day all around (I also boshed out the last few chapters of this story. Still trying to figure out whether that's a good thing or a bad thing) Anyway, hope you like this chapter, and maybe leave a little review?_

_**Next Chapter-**_Protective

_"Are you sure about this?"_


	22. Protective

Australia is nice, if you take away the heat and the infathomable accents. The best thing was that no one questioned it when three trucks pulled up outside of an apartment building, filled with 16 soldiers.

The questioning began when Fury knocked down the front door and shot the guard through the head.

"Are you sure about this?" Bucky asked her in the stairwell. She grinned back, her mind flashing through 114 minutes of footage.

"Just call this my breakdown."

* * *

"This is too easy!" Steve shouted from the other end of the corridor as the elevator between them opened, revealing nothing but an empty space.

"Don't be silly. HYDRA's just too bigheaded. How else do you think I escaped?"

Eleven floors up.

Thirty-nine to go.

* * *

Floor 25- sleeping quarters.

Floor 32- low guard prisoners.

Floor 41- high guard prisoners.

Floor 48- three dead HYDRA soldiers and a lot of bullets embedded in surgical equipment. A few trays of knives and ropes and nails thrown out of the window for good measure.

Floor 49- meeting rooms.

"Are you sure about this?" Bucky whispered. They were the last two left, as there had only been two keycards to the 50th floor. The elevator opened slowly, revealing HYDRA's biggest secrets inch by inch.

"As sure as I'll ever be." She smiled back, all insanity lost. Her fingers entwined with his metal hand, pulling him through the doors and into the open space. No more corridors or rooms or hidden apartments. Just them and whatever waited in the boxes sorted amongst the rows of shelves.

"Alien." He breathed from across the room. Iris carried on, her fingers brushing along the numbers and names.

"Not quite. SHIELD. It's all ours."

"So what do we do?" Bucky asked. She smiled.

"SHIELD doesn't exist, Bucky. And neither should HYDRA. Neither should this stuff."

He nodded in understanding, pressing the button for the elevator.

When they reached the 36th floor, they felt the building shudder as the three grenades they'd left exploded, billowing fire and alien shrapnel into the airs of Australia.

"What do we tell Fury?" Bucky whispered, his feet pounding down the steps a seconds before her's.

"We tell him the truth. It was too dangerous for either side to hold that equipment. He should understand that better than anyone."

* * *

They were all back on the Globemaster, and heading back to the USA. Washington, Natasha had guessed. Bucky had kissed Iris' cheek before heading off to shower, both him and Steve laughing over the distant prospect of a proper shower on stable ground. Ben moved over and took his place.

"Why'd you blow it up?" Ben asked. There were two truths- the one about the dangers, and the one about the personal reasons. She already knew which one he deserved.

"A place like that deserved nothing less than destruction. Do you disagree?"

Ben shook his head, eyes following Bucky out of the room as he turned and sent her one last grin, Steve pulling a face from behind him.

"He's four years older than you. It would make more sense for me to date him than you."

"Are you saying you have a crush on my boyfriend, Benny?" Iris giggled. "Because I don't really think he's into stuff like that."

"You know what I meant. I just mean...look out for yourself. I know you're capable of it, and you do it whether I remind you or not, but as your brother-"

"You have the right to look after me. I know that. And I love you for it. Just don't ever get captured again; I don't think my heart could take anymore losses."

"Yeah, because your hand was _so_ important to you."

"Leftie was very special to me! Not very useful, as I'm right-handed, but special nonetheless."

"That's what Mum said about you. Not useful, but very special."

"Oh, shut up!"

They smiled silently for a few seconds, a cloak of normalicy shrouding them.

"You don't have to be protective anymore, Ben. There are others people out there to do it. You can't spend the rest of your life keeping an eye out for me just to try and make up for the three years you couldn't. I know that's why they captured you; you fought back. You fought back and you fought well. You gave them a reason to take you."

Ben smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. But I have to make up for it. You're my sister-"

"So was Tilly. But neither of us could have protected her from them."

The normalicy lifted, revealing the bones and bullets that paved their past.

"Where are you going to go to, you and Bucky? Are you staying with us and Fury, or moving out?"

"I haven't figured that out yet." She smiled back, rising to go and see if one of the showers were free. The next step hadn't really accurred to her; all she knew that wherever Bucky was going, she was following. No questions asked.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_I'm going to put a poll up for which story you guys want me to start writing next. No, there's no more sequels on that list, just some ideas I'd really appreciate you guys having your say in. If you want proper summaries, just tell me and I'll post them in the next chapter's Author's Note. Deal? :)_

_**Next Chapter- **_Distance

_"Shotgun!"_


	23. Distance

Brooklyn.

She, Steve and Bucky were going to drive there from Washington.

None of them had told Tasha, or Sam, or Ben. SHIELD was made up of ghosts, and that was who they were going to have to be. A few dozen Winter Soldiers waiting for the time that their missions could be fulfilled, their purpose waiting to be revealed.

Brooklyn was their point on the map.

Washington was on the line towards it.

* * *

The day wasn't dark or anything when they arrived. It wasn't filled with tears or apologies. It was expected. A final outcome. An unchangeable decision.

"Don't get yourselves killed." Natasha ordered them, pulling Steve and Sam in for a quick hug. Fury's mouth quirked up at this, a small 'I-told-you-so' towards the apparently cold-hearted assassin. "Especially you, robo-cops." Both Iris and Bucky grinned at the nickname. "I kinda like you two. Maybe not you; you did shoot me once."

"It's not like you didn't shoot back!" Bucky argued, having remembered the entire fight scene in Washington. Tasha rolled her eyes and imitated his babbling, grinning at them one last time before ducking out of the plane and back on to land.

"What do we do now?" Ben asked, bobbing up and down from excitement. Iris and Bucky exchanged looks, about to tell him about their plans-

"You and Iris have visitors. After that, it's up to you guys." Fury ducked his head, catching Iris' eye while he did so. The plan fell bittersweet on her tongue, gauging Ben's reaction as he took one glance out of the window and ran down the ramp.

* * *

Her parents stood awkwardly next to a large black car, their faces sighing with relieve as Ben rushed into their arms. It had been nearing four years since she'd last seen them, and even then it was filled with tears and anger and open wounds.

Had it been enough time to let them heal?

Too late.

Her Dad spotted her, dropping Ben from the hug. The three of them turned, trying to predict her next move. Step by step she walked forward, stopping a metre in front of her father.

"I got accepted. Four years late, but an acceptance nonetheless." She smiled weakly. Her lungs were screaming from how tight she was clutching herself, but she didn't care. Her Dad's face gave way to the sadness and regret, and he enveloped her in his arms.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry, Ir. We're so proud of you, and I'm so sorry."

Iris shook her head.

She was a clever girl, and clever girl's know too well the stupidity of impossible wishes.

Her Dad spotted her just as she began to turn away, loosening his arms from around Ben. The sadness and regret was all there, but hidden behind guilt. The knowledge of what his anger had done. Too many open wounds to heal in too little time.

Funnily enough, she didn't feel anything. No anger or sadness as she nodded her head curtly and walked back, picking her bag up from the corner of the room.

"Don't you want to say goodbye?" Steve asked from behind her, nodding towards the family of three, her mother gushing over a scar on Ben's right cheek.

"Not really. It'll be easier not to."

"They're your family." He pointed out. She could see that he was remembering his own, remembering his deceased parents and buried friends.

"I'm not like you Steve. My family's built on loyalty, and you guys are the best I've got." Something popped into her head, a quote recited in the light of a TV screen. "'Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind.'"

Steve frowned, raising an eyebrow when his memory came up with nothing.

"Lilo and Stitch? Possibly the most beautiful quote on family ever written? No? Jeez, you really need to catch up."

He rolled his eyes, grinning as Bucky appeared, his hair still damp from the shower. "Ready to go? The car's all set, we just need passengers now. And a driver." He smirked, dangling the keys in front of them. Steve turned towards Iris, waiting for her to take the bite.

"Shotgun!" She raced, grabbing the keys and sprinting for the car.

"What does 'shotgun' mea-"

"I'm in the backseat!" Steve shouted, racing to catch up with her. Bucky followed in confusion, catching the keys when Iris threw them back from the unlocked passenger side.

"You're driving. And I'm picking the music." She smirked, throwing her feet up on to the dashboard and searching for a good station. Bucky sighed and turned the key in the agnition.

"Brooklyn, here we come."

Iris lay back, not daring to look back as they made as much distance between them and their point as possible.

"Brooklyn, here we come." She echoed. In the seat behind her, Steve began singing along to 'Counting Stars', the radio crackling with every new beat.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

_Just the epilogue to go now! Don't worry, there's no doom or gloom in it (literally, none. If you hate happiness, finish this story here)_

**Next Chapter-**Finale

_"STEVE, DID YOU JUST RUIN HARRY POTTER FOR HIM?"_


	24. Finale

"How do you guys not get rusty?" Steve asked curiously from the breakfast table one morning. Bucky and Iris glanced at each other's metal arms, the water having dried away from them easily following their shower.

"I dunno. Some special metal probably. It would be slightly ridiculous if we marched into battle looking like a few old bikes."

Steve nodded, accepting the answer easily. They'd been living in Brooklyn for nearing three weeks now, residing in a two-bedroomed apartment a block away from where the boys used to live. It had taken nine days for Iris to convince them to stop stalking on their old houses, saying that it would do them no good if they were jailed before they actually committed any crimes.

Normalicy was settling over them. Steve was reabsorbed in training routines and history museums, still trying to figure out what he'd missed, while Bucky and Iris sparred against each other in the living room, watching a new movie every night.

Yesterday it had been Snow White, while tonight she was forcing him to watch The Little Mermaid (she was in a Disney mood)

When they weren't sparring or watching or doing..._other_ stuff, Bucky was reading and Iris was attempting to cook. It used to be vice versa, but Bucky accidentally heated his arm up and set fire to some bread, and Iris had forced him out of the kitchen, proclaiming he was a safety hazard.

However, it turns out that cooking with easily heatable body components was pretty difficult.

_"OW, SHIT, OWY-OW-OW!"_

_"What did you burn?"_

_"My hand was hot from the soup and I kinda burnt my other wrist when I swapping the spoon from each hand."_

_"Ha."_

_"Meanie."_

All in all, it was average. Once you forgot about the weapons and the impending war and the secret SHIELD informatives.

Okay, so not so average, but as average as it can be for two super-soldiers, two half-robo-men, and three fugitive SHIELD agents.

_"DUMBLEDORE DIES?!"_

_"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU'D READ THE SIXTH BOOK!"_

_"NU-HUH. I SAID I WAS READ**ING** IT. HE DIES? BUT...HE'S DUMBLEDORE! HE CAN'T DIE! IF HE DIES, EVERYONE WILL DIE!"_

_"STEVE, DID YOU JUST RUIN HARRY POTTER FOR HIM?"_

_"NO...okay, maybe, yes, sorry."_

_"Wait...IT'S TRUE? HE ACTUALLY DIES? WHO KILLS HIM? WAIT, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. THIS IS...HE DIES?"_

Totally average. Though a little bit awkward when their neighbours overhear and match their voices up to some nerdy college students, instead of the three, well-built 20-something year olds that actually resided in the opposite flat.

_"You know, in the original Little Mermaid, Ariel doesn't get saved and is turned to foam."_

_"She...shut up. You can't ruin Disney for me. It's impossible."_

_"I wasn't trying to-"_

_"Just shut up Bucky. That's a fight you can't win."_

Ten weeks and they had routines. Iris had developed her cooking skills past microwavable noodles and rice and into the realms of pasta and oven-baked substances. Bucky had read and watched all thing Harry Potter related and was now on to reading the Captain America comics he could find in the local shop, laughing over their representation of Steve.

_"Did you really wear tights?"_

_"I did not wear tights."_

_"I've seen the footage. You totally wore tights."_

_"Just shut up and get back to your stupid Cinderella."_

Across the room, Bucky's phone beeped. Iris abandoned the boiling pot to read it, finishing it just as Bucky appeared from the living room.

"Who is it?" He asked, turning the temperature on the hob to stop it from overflowing. She smirked, showing him the message while Steve jogged in.

"SHIELD's calling. Are you ready to get back to work?"

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_THE END! 24 chapters and 34,739 words (excluding this Author's Note, including the rest). We've rescued Bucky (over half the story ago), watched Iris breakdown (a lot) and survived HYDRA, Fury, traitors, and Alfred (German spin-off anyone?). There's going to be a lot of thank you's below, so skip if you don't like them._

**DarkHorseBlueSky,** for your endless reviews and sneaky helpfulness (whether you meant it to be helpful or not)

**Jezebel**, for your continuous reviews which have always boosted my confidence and put a smile on my face. You deserve a billion smiley-faced cookies with moustaches :{)

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From all you lovely people who started reading at State of Mind, and the rest of you lovely people who joined afterwards, this would not have been able to finish without all your awesomeness. I'll miss Bucky and Iris like hell, and I will just have to wait for Captain America 3 to see if my badass robo-cops are better or not ;)

Love you all to pieces, and I hope this story isn't the last time I get to see your guys' names :)


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